Results 461-480 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: Caranua Financial Statements 2017 (17 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I was not questioning survivors integrity. I am questioning the integrity of builders and people doing work. I want to make sure that is clear.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for coming in this morning. I am familiar with a number of them from the BusConnects meetings. How many members sit on the board? There are two who are directors and on the board but how many are on the board in total?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Four are women.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: So, that is the basic 33%. We had that here last week again. In terms of directors, is Ms Graham the only director that is female?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Of the executive directors.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: How many executive directors are there?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: That is 50%, which is an improvement. How has it improved overall? I assume there were no women previously.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: We are going backwards.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Maybe we will have addressed that by the time we meet next year. Mr. L'Estrange mentioned the lease earlier. I want to get the timeline right following on from Deputy Catherine Murphy's questions. The NTA took over the taxi regulator in what year?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The NTA was formed in 2009. The taxi regulator had a historic lease on a building for 35 years with an upward-only rent, which was standard at the time. Did the NTA challenge the lease? Clearly, it did not contain a break clause or the NTA would have gone for it, I assume. Did the NTA challenge the lease legally or seek to buy it out or make a settlement with the person who owned the building?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Why not? While upward-only rent leases were standard during the boom, once the crash took place it was normal to negotiate with whoever was in charge, often a bank. However, no attempt was made by the NTA to cut itself loose from a historic lease.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It was €170,000 a year for 35 years. We have had other instances here and there were lots of instances in the private sector where significant value was achieved. My point is that there was no attempt to do that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I did not ask Mr. L'Estrange that. Was there any attempt?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: There was a building on Fitzwilliam Street that was occupied by the taxi regulator and subsumed by the NTA. The NTA is subletting it to another company and the shortfall is €90,000. The NTA is paying that every year until the lease runs out.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The NCCA is subletting it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It is all going round the same pot.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: However, the benefit is going to a private operator who holds the 35 year lease.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I understand the rationale and streamlining. The NTA regulates clamping. Is there any other group it took under its umbrella that was based in an office with a huge lease over 35 years? Is there any other historic lease going on?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It is not satisfactory that no attempt was made. At that time, one could not logically estimate that it would have been 35 times €170,000, give or take a few per cent. In the real world, that is not what happened. People either defaulted and went to court or people went to the negotiating table and went through mediation. That is the way one does business. I acknowledge that there...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It was no surprise.