Results 1-17 of 17 for at segment:8903012

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Mr. Seamus McCarthy: No. That was the point. It had been carrying them at a value and they decided that, effectively, it did not make sense to be trying to value them and to do the inspection regime to try to figure out what would be the replacement cost of the canals because, effectively, they are irreplaceable. It decided that it would carry them at nil value, but, obviously, they are...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: I thank the Comptroller and Auditor General for that. Is it agreed to note the listing of accounts and financial statements? Agreed. As usual, they will be published as part of our minutes. I will move on to correspondence. As previously agreed, items that were not flagged for discussion for this meeting will be dealt with in accordance with the proposed actions that have been...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: It is No. 2528. I want to comment briefly on it. It is in relation to non-compliant procurement. The ten contracts awarded were in place at a value of €2.369 million. Of the ones listed, there is over €1 million for Word Perfect - a contract awarded with an interpretation service that is drawn down. Ms McPhillips sets out there corrective action. The Department has...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: It is dated 12 April. Sorry, No. 2527 is one as well, but the one we are on at the moment is No. 2528.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Catherine Murphy: The same response is repeated through the report. It is copy and paste - "it is not possible to rectify this non-compliant procurement retrospectively". Perhaps we could ask the OPW if the old process was tested before it was adopted. Is the new procurement process actually in place at this stage or is the OPW still relying on the old process and it is in transition? I am not entirely...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Catherine Murphy: I have one general point, which may be something that is raised with the Comptroller and Auditor General at audit time and relates to procurement. Talking to people in public bodies, very often, they will not get multi-annual funding. They will get notification of funding in March and have to have it spent by October. They are handing back money because they are put in an impossible...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Mr. Seamus McCarthy: The way we tend to look at it is that rushed expenditure at the end of the year would pose a risk and so we would be looking to see that there is a consistent pattern in the spending. It may be different if you are talking about capital funding. Once a contract is entered into, even if it does not progress, the commitment is there and is going to have to be met for...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: The next nine items on the list are all related to non-compliant procurement. The first is No. 2518 B, correspondence from John O’Halloran, president of University College Cork, dated 11 April 2024. Members will see some of the items such as carpentry services, printing and dental services. No. 2520B is correspondence from Deirdre Keyes, chief executive of Kildare and Wicklow...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Mr. Seamus McCarthy: Regarding basic principles, there is a set of basic things that need to be done and gone through. I think with some of them, particularly the ETBs, there is a provision that if a local school has its own budget and makes its own procurement decisions, they can go ahead and advertise locally and so on. If it is a big contract, they are still bound to do it as is...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: They are running many more facilities now. If one looks at Laois and Offaly ETB and what Laois VEC used to be, they are much different.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Mr. Seamus McCarthy: It is important to get competition and to have proper processes that give you assurance that you are getting what you need at the best price.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Catherine Murphy: I wish to return to No. 2527, which is one that the Chair called out. It is a relatively small one at €48,000. It is about four or five from the bottom and it states: A competitive tender process through eTenders - [you need a magnifying glass to read this] - was carried out in ... 2023 to fill this role. This competition was unsuccessful and did not result in us entering into a...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Catherine Murphy: We are looking at consequences.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Moving on, there is one more ETB. It is No. 2532 with Ms Caitríona Murphy, chief executive officer of Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board. That is a similar situation. Again, there is a list of non-compliant procurements ranging in size from €146,000 to €54,000 for painting and decorating. They are not ones that should not be coming in as...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: It is in the years. I understand an emergency but I think from here out with this Department, we need to be able to see that. The word "emergency" is used a fair number of times down through the attached columns. From here out, there will need to be greater care taken of this and a greater examination of it to ensure that there is some level of competitiveness in securing these different...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: No. 2537B is from Graham Doyle, Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and is dated 16 April. It is proposed to note and publish this item. Mr. Doyle states in his letter that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage awarded 128 public contracts where the value exceeded €25,000, exclusive of VAT, to the value of €21.415...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (25 Apr 2024)

The committee went into private session at 2.08 p.m. and adjourned at 2.22 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 2 May 2024.