Results 19,581-19,600 of 26,685 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: -----and non-compliance with all those measures. Has the Department sought legal advice relating to non-compliance?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I would have thought it would be advice from the Attorney General.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Was it her advice that we should be compliant?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: We have to be compliant.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Legally, we must be compliant. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: From 2013 up to now, we have accepted we are not in compliance. We are now facing court proceedings. Really, we do not have a leg to stand on legally if we are obliged to be in compliance and we are not. What would the legal advice have been other than to say we should be compliant?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Has the Department done the following analysis, as I hope it would have done? Has it a cost on what would need to happen for us to be compliant? If that has been done, has it been juxtaposed with possible fines? Has the Department any idea what possible fines we face and if there has been any risk analysis of the cost of the fines that might come down the track if we are not compliant?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: That runs to 2021.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Is Mr. McCarthy saying he is satisfied that the funding up to 2021 will bring us into compliance with the directive?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Is it sufficiently funded to 2021 to meet compliance with the directive? It is either "Yes" or "No". It is either funded to meet the directive's requirements or not.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Mr. McCarthy is telling me it is funded to 2021. I am trying to establish whether the funding is there.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Is Mr. McCarthy satisfied we can avoid fines?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: If Mr. McCarthy is the Accounting Officer and the State is in the dock for non-compliance and we are facing fines, I would be a bit concerned that the Department is not sufficiently robust in the position that we are not facing fines. Mr. McCarthy is saying we have at least identified the cost and we have a plan to fund up to 2021. It is a matter for each budget that the funding will be...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Could I paint a scenario? If we end up in court - and we will - and there are fines, Mr. McCarthy will have to account for those fines. I will be asking a different set of questions as to why we have faced those fines.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: We will have to see how it unfolds.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I thank the witness for that. I want to move on to the second question regarding housing. The witness responded to a question from an Teachta Cassells about the four-stage process in which a local authority applies for funding for social housing and the time it takes for the cheque finally to arrive. My understanding is that the average wait time is about 18 months. That has been a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: What are the four stages of the process?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: In terms of each of those processes, the local authority has to get approval from the Department every step of the way. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Am I correct in saying that it can take 18 months on average? Am I correct in saying that there are still some proposals in the system going back as far as 2013?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: With respect, I understand that the Department has to be satisfied that the process is appropriate and so on. I accept all of that. There has to be a process. To cut to the chase, the witness accepts that the Department and local authorities have accepted that there is a problem and they are trying to resolve it. The Department has carried out a review. Further action may now be put in...