Do members wish to comment on the accounts and financial statements? Can we agree to note the listing of accounts and financial statements? That is agreed. As usual, the list of accounts and financial statements will be published as part of the minutes.
Moving 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 circulated, and decisions taken by the committee in relation to correspondence are recorded in the minutes of the committee’s meetings and published on its web page.
Two items have been flagged for discussion under category B, which comprises correspondence from Accounting Officers and-or Ministers and follow up to Committee of Public Accounts meetings.
No. R2583 is from Ms Thelma Watters, chief superintendent, An Garda Síochána, dated 3 May. It provides follow-up information to the committee in respect of questions raised at the meeting of 21 March. I flagged this item because there are a couple of interesting things in it. The cost of suspended members has more than doubled, from €2.879 million in 2020 for 67 suspended gardaí to almost €5.9 million for 110 gardaí in 2023. They do not give any details. I would not expect personal details of individual gardaí but there is limited enough information in it. The cost of the Joe Biden visit was €31.8 million. There is an issue with financial mismanagement and allegations in relation to matters brought to the attention of previous iterations of the Committee of Public Accounts. There has not been any disciplinary action taken on foot of any of that. E-scooter legislation will come into force from next Monday. That is welcome. The matter has been raised at previous meetings of the committee. It is proposed that we note and publish this correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed.
No. R2592 is from Bernie McNally, Secretary General of the Department of Education, dated 8 May. This relates to the school transport scheme. Two questions were answered by Ms McNally. First, Ukrainian students make up a significant proportion of those needing access to school transport. The rest of the figures provided are, for the most part, out of date. The documents involved were previously requested by the Committee of Public Accounts over a period of seven years, as far as I can see.
It is proposed to note and publish it. I take that as agreed.
No. R2588 is from Deputy Alan Kelly. I suggest that we defer it so that the details can be agreed when more members are present. I take that as agreed.
We will move on to the work programme, which has been circulated to members. It is on the screen. Any members who are joining online will see it. Next week, we will engage with the Department of Defence in relation to Vote 35 – Army Pensions, Vote 36 – Defence, and Chapter 12 of the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which deals with stock management. The Army Reserve has been flagged as an area of interest. This will be the first time the Department of Defence will be before the committee during this mandate. Had it been before the committee much under previous mandates?
