Are the minutes of the meeting of 15 September agreed? Agreed. Are there any matters arising from those minutes? If not, I shall proceed with the agenda.
The next item is correspondence. On 15 September 2011 the committee received correspondence from the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. John Buckley, forwarding a note previously requested by the committee in respect of proprietary checks undertaken in the course of audits of State bodies. This is to be noted and published. Correspondence was also received on 15 September from Mr. Seán Forkin of Ballymote, County Sligo, in respect of a case of serious assault. The correspondence is to be noted but this is not an issue for the Committee of Public Accounts. I propose to forward it to the Accounting Officer of An Garda Síochána for direct reply.
Correspondence was received on 16 September from Mr. Paul O'Toole, director general of FÁS regarding the Mazars internal report. This is to be noted and published. The director general of FÁS will appear before the committee this morning to clarify issues relating to the correspondence.
Correspondence was received on 21 September from the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland regarding the forwarding of the Mazars report on State-owned bus companies and its press release. I am concerned with regard to how State subventions to bodies such as Dublin Bus are utilised. Due to the fact that Dublin Bus is not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, however, this is not a matter on which the committee can follow up directly. I propose, therefore, that we ask the Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht to follow up on it. When the Accounting Officer from the relevant Department comes before this committee later in the year, we can pursue the matter further. In such circumstances, the correspondence will be forwarded to that Department.
Correspondence was also received on 21 September 2011 from Ms Patricia Gilheany, on behalf of, Concerned Irish Citizens, Ballinamore, County Leitrim, regarding Quinn Insurance. I note that representatives from this group met Deputy Shane Ross. This matter is primarily one for the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and it should, therefore, be referred to that committee in the first instance and to the Accounting Officer of the Department of Finance for appropriate follow up. It is not a matter for this committee but I am sure we can raise it when representatives from the Department of Finance come before us.
Correspondence was received on 15 September 2011 from Mr. Josephine Feehily, chairperson of the Revenue Commissioners, providing an update on the Vote and chapter information. This is to be noted and published. Correspondence from Ms Feehily was also received on 12 September 2011. This contains her opening statement and is to be noted and published. Correspondence was received on 21 September 2011 from Mr. Paul O'Toole, director general of FÁS, containing his opening statement for this meeting. This is to be noted and published.
The next item is reports and statements on accounts received since our meeting on 15 September last. Details of each of these reports and statements have been circulated to members and they are all to be noted. I understand there are issues regarding the City of Cork VEC. These are the subject of an upcoming report from the Comptroller and Auditor General. We will, therefore, defer noting those accounts.