Results 19,581-19,600 of 26,053 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I would prefer it Mr. O’Brien were to make it clear rather than simple.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What view does the Department take on the issue?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What view does Dr. McLoughlin take? If a case is made, will the Department agree to the top-ups being paid?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Could I move on to the medical card issue? Much ground has been covered. I wish to speak from practical experience. I will deal with discretionary medical cards for those aged under and over 70 years. All reviews have ceased for those with medical cards aged under 70. Those in the appeals process will keep their cards but those who have lost their cards await the outcome of a Cabinet...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. O'Brien will appreciate that the majority of people aged over 70 did not get their cards on a discretionary basis, they got them on a means basis. I will deal with the anomaly. Am I correct on the general point relating to those aged under 70, that the HSE is awaiting a Government decision on the restoration of medical cards?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome Mr. O'Brien, Mr. McLoughlin and their colleagues. I have three items I wish to raise. The first issue, about which I have put the HSE on alert, is the HIQA report on the accident and emergency department at University Hospital Limerick. The second issue is that of salary top-ups, and the third item is medical cards. In saying this I am not being personal, but there has been a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What is the range of top-ups involved? What has this process taken so long? We dealt with the section 38 agency top-ups months ago. If my memory serves me correctly, the report was commenced in March 2013 and delivered by the executive's internal auditor in July 2013. It is now a year later. Why has this process taken so long? We represent the ordinary people following these...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: They are both in the revolving door.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Yes. It is very simple. As an independent committee we must seek independent legal advice and then reply to the CPP. I agree with Deputy Deasy's suggestion that we set a timeframe. We are in a process here. This is nothing different from what we have done with the process to date and we should proceed forthwith.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I took a cursory look at the letters which we only received this morning. The trend running through them appears to be that it is important when seeking compellability that it be linked back with the work of the Comptroller and Auditor General. It is looking for a pathway. Will the Clerk confirm this? Reading the letters they appear to be looking for us to show a link with the work of the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Reform of Global System of Corporation Tax: EU Commission and KPMG (11 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I have a question for Mr. Kermode.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Reform of Global System of Corporation Tax: EU Commission and KPMG (11 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: The OECD is looking at global tax, which is a global issue rather than one that applies to one specific country. Will this be taken into account in its deliberations? It provides a degree of uncertainty. Will there be a timeframe on when the deliberations are concluded? Ireland has a single rate and it is transparent. Other European countries have a myriad of rates. Will this be...

Topical Issue Debate: HIQA Reports (11 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank the Minister for his comments and welcome the commitment to provide a model 3 hospital along with University Hospital Limerick, which is a model 4 hospital. On the issue of the build, we need to know whether the accident and emergency unit will be completed by 2016. We represent the patients and constituents in Limerick and we know that the issue of overcrowding at University...

Topical Issue Debate: HIQA Reports (11 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome the HIQA report which reaffirms what we already know - that there is major overcrowding in the accident and emergency department at University Hospital, Limerick. It is not fit for purpose and is unacceptable for patients and the staff who do such fantastic work in the hospital. The report discussed fast-tracking the new accident and emergency service at University Hospital,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Returning to the issue of Wexford VEC, now Wexford ETB, given the sheer scale of the wastage of €420,500 of taxpayers' money, I would hope that something immediate could be done on this. That level of drain of funding every year over that eight-year period in total defies logic to the ordinary persons up and down the country looking in who fund-raise for their schools, parents...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Will the Secretary General come back to the committee on it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: On the face of it, one could make the case that as it was, the Department was overpaying for the building because the VEC was only able to get €51,000 on re-letting the premises at the height of the crazy tiger years. As part of the Department's due diligence, I ask the Secretary General to examine how a rate of €67,465 was negotiated on the rental of the premises. Why could...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will follow on with an issue that frequently comes up on the ground in respect of young teachers, that is, of temporary posts arising and young teachers feeling they are not getting a fair shake of the dice in terms of being able to apply for or get these temporary positions. What is the policy within the Department to ensure that young, unemployed teachers are given some sort of priority...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I do not in any way question the skill sets of the retired teachers. However, in a situation in which one person is retired and one also has a young person, married or single and perhaps with a family, who is unemployed, the question is-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: However, it is still at the discretion of the principal in the school.