Results 481-500 of 1,143,352 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Michael McNamara OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Chris Andrews OR speaker:Chris Andrews8 OR speaker:Bríd Smith OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Chris Andrews6 OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Peter Burke OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Johnny Mythen OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív87 OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Matt Carthy OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Duncan Smith) in 'Committee meetings'

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: From ten weeks in the third quarter of 2022, it ended up, as I understand it, not just in the middle of 2023 but significantly later than that. There were the other 250 after that. What consequences were there for the contractor? Were there any consequences or was it all just blamed on the issues with sites? In other words, were the units delivered?

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: I know all about the Thurles site.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: We can check all of those out. For the benefit of members of the public watching these proceedings, a contractor came in to do work for the OPW. What has probably not been in the public domain is the fact that the contracts averaged out at €145,000 but that the actual cost averaged out at €442,000. This means a cost of €297,000 for site works. That is beyond...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: They should not have been picked.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: So there is nothing we need to be aware of. It is really an opportunity for Mr. Conlon because this is the Committee of Public Accounts. There is nothing-----

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: In fairness to the three previous speakers, they have asked Mr. Conlon a number of questions and they have given him the opportunity and he said, as is his right, that he was not in position then. However, Mr. Conlon has been in position now for a while. Mr. Conlon has made it clear that he is not aware of anything else. That is fine. I find the situation with the modular homes...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: If there is someone else here who can answer that and who was there previous to Mr. Conlon, then that is fine.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: I agree with Mr. Conlon.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: Did the OPW expect this project?

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: So was it a case of share the workload.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: It is not a natural skill for the OPW if Mr. Conlon does not mind me saying so

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: I understand that but to have to navigate the whole situation in relation to people coming into the country. With ground works and all of that sort of stuff, surely the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage was a more natural fit.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: It is for the Government to answer. I just wanted to know how the OPW ended up with it.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: Okay. Can we get into the costs of the units? The OPW went out to tender and brought in John Sisk. Was it Sisk that won the tender?

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: From the notes I see it appointed five different contractors.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: Yes. Were any of those contractors in any way owned by John Sisk as well?

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Alan Kelly: I will briefly return to the bike shelter and I echo my colleagues' comments. The Leas-Chathaoirleach and I have been around this committee the longest. The biggest issue we have ever dealt with is the national children's hospital. As regards commentary among the public, a €2.2 billion project is put in the ha'penny place by a bike shed out at the back of this building when it comes...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: Let us take the OPW's estimate of €70 million, bearing in mind how inaccurate some estimates have proven to be within the OPW recently in developing much smaller developments. Does it not cause Mr. Conlon a great degree of concern that the OPW is proposing to spend €70 million, at a minimum, on a national children's science centre in the middle of Dublin, a very busy city,...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: It is not a question of it feeling threatened. I am suggesting it should become the national children's science centre, bearing in mind it is already there and is visited by up to 250,000 children every year. With an investment of a fraction of the €70 million of taxpayers' money we are proposing to spend, which I still think is a very conservative estimate, it could and should...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: The potential of other facilities.