Results 18,381-18,400 of 21,260 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. Watt develop that point? He estimates that the allowances to those serving on committees could cost €400,000.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The figure for 2010 was €1.1 million?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does Mr. Coughlan dispute the €400,000 figure that Mr. Watt has given us?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: If we cannot get the precise figure today, it is important that we get the precise figure. The general public wants to know the cost of running committees.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. Coughlan please do that? I see no good reason to give €9,500 to the chairpersons of committees. I think at a time of austerity, when the cupboard is bare, the payment should be dispensed with. The payment of €9,500 each year to the members of the Oireachtas Commission is scandalous. I cannot see the rationale for that figure. That payment should be also dispensed...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The figure is €120,000 - okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Where are the two vacancies?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The cost of the whips is €120,000. It is a struggle to understand the presentation. We know there must be proper ordering of business and so on, but it is astonishing that it should cost the taxpayer that amount of money each year to order the business of the Oireachtas. I am not undermining the role of the whips, which is a necessary part of the parliamentary proceedings. They...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Department totalled the figure.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Let me repeat, it is just over €5 million. I read in the note sent to members that Mr. Coughlan states that this covers the cost of travel to and from Leinster House, overnight stays and, for Deputies only, any other travel expenses within a member's constituency. Of course, that has been preceded by a comment from the Attorney General.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: What is the mechanism for clarifying that issue?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. Watt comment?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does having an unvouched regime not undermine any argument we, as parliamentarians, or Mr. Coughlan might make that the system is robust? There seems to be a glaring contradiction there.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: How many Deputies, Ministers and Senators avail of the unvouched system for the public representation allowance?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is extremely troubling.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Please. That would be even better.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: What is the cumulative value of those unvouched expenses? Does Mr. Coughlan have those figures? It is, obviously, €15,000 by 39 plus €12,000 by 12 plus €9,250 by 44. I do not have my calculator.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Could someone add that up and I will come back to it? Mr. Coughlan then moved on to the secretarial allowance, that is, the staffing issue. Deputies, Ministers and Senators can opt for an entirely transparent system or for one that is at least partially unvouched. I accept that Mr. Coughlan is not the person who set out the parameters of this system, but it is completely and utterly...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: What does the €18.2 million cover?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that the total cost of the secretarial allowance? Does Mr. Coughlan have a differentiation between the unvouched and vouched elements? That is what I am trying to capture.