Results 81-100 of 4,002 for speaker:Rose Conway Walsh
- Seanad: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: This recommendation of Senator Higgins-----
- Seanad: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: I will stand. The recommendation is in respect of gender and equality budgeting. It is really important to examine the impact the budget has on this.
- Seanad: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: I move recommendation No. 21: In page 131, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report on Re-Allocation of “No-Deal Brexit” fund 76. Within 3 months of the enactment of this Act, the Minister shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report examining options for the re-allocation of funds reserved for the case of the United Kingdom withdrawing from...
- Seanad: Finance Bill 2019: Order for Report Stage (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: No.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: I thank Mr. Watt for his opening statement. It would have been beneficial to have had it a little earlier than 9.53 a.m. today. Mr. Watt has a broad area of responsibility. In terms of members needing time to scrutinise the statement, it would have been appreciated if we had got it earlier. I want to concentrate first on broadband. The Government recently signed the contract with Granahan...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Mr. Watt will have to get someone to help him.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Nothing has happened since then to change Mr. Watt's view. I will take it that his view, as stated, is the same as it was previously.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: It is disgraceful that all of Mr. Watt's repeated observations around the value for money factor are totally dismissed. One would have to ask what the point is in having senior civil servants with an expertise to advise the Government on these issues when it ignores that advice.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: I would agree with Mr. Watt in terms of some of that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: It is, but Mr. Watt repeated his view many times in terms of potential asset stripping and how bad this is for the State but the Government went ahead and did not take any of his advice. It continued along its own pathway. This will not be the last time Mr. Watt will be quoted. In years to come, in terms of us examining the value for money, this is atrocious. It is important to put on the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Does Mr. Watt think there is a possibility of Government policy being influenced, particularly by the Big Four?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: If they are getting such vast sums from Government and are also being asked to do reports on different issues, is it not human nature that they will give favourable reports in terms of what the Government wants to hear rather than anything else? The Government is one of their largest customers so they will not say anything that will deviate from-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Has Mr. Watt examined the UK report on the Big Four that examined conflicts of interest?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: One then finds situations such as the one we saw with Carillion where we take it as gospel that companies like that are financially secure whereas when one digs beneath, one finds that they are far from being financially secure so Government is making decisions that are not based on what they need to be based on. We need to be very careful about the Government using consultants as a cover...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Exactly. It all comes down to accountability. If we keep outsourcing everything, where is the accountability?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: It is an issue with which we and Mr. Watt must deal. We are keeping an eye on that figure. A figure of €82.5 million in eight years is not acceptable. We need to see that being reduced as well as looking at conflicts of interest and other issues. Another major problem I have with contracting out is the lack of transparency. I refer to the JobPath contract. It has been...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: I would appreciate that because I started the quest for this in 2016 when I came into the Seanad. The Taoiseach was then Minister for Social Protection. I started asking for details of those contracts that were given to private providers. Three years later, I have not received those details so I would appreciate finding out the rationale for that because €202 million of citizens'...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: This will be a brief question, as Senator Jerry Buttimer is on his feet in the Seanad, and I have to attend the House to debate the Finance Bill. My question is about badly performing contractors. Earlier this year, the construction firm, Western Building Systems, was awarded a contract to deliver the 60-bed modular extension at University Hospital Limerick but the same construction firm...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters relating to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Discussion (3 Dec 2019)
Rose Conway Walsh: Has a contractor been disqualified using that matrix?