Are the minutes of the meeting of 28 February agreed to? Agreed. The only matter arising relates to the need to engage a rapporteur to assist the committee in drafting the report it discussed at its previous public meeting and in private session. The clerk has done some work on the issue.
Business of Committee
Where does the matter stand? Has a rapporteur been appointed?
Not yet.
Will it be put out to tender?
Clerk to the Committee
Yes, we will have to go to tender on it.
Will the Chairman outline the process being followed?
We agreed in private session and at our previous meeting to do this work which, essentially, follows on from the work done by the previous incarnation of the committee.
It is in respect of the interim report. However, an interim report never issued.
No, it was not. We will be taking all of the work carried out by the previous committee and all the documentation it received from the Department of Finance and linking them with a current report from the Comptroller and Auditor General. In other words, we will take all of the relevant information, etc., from the previous committee and put the accompanying documents with it. The rapporteur will then look at all of the documents. There is a lever arch file full of documents which need to be examined. We could ask today that some of these documents be given-----
Will the rapporteur be a consultant?
Clerk to the Committee
Yes.
Will the contract be put out to tender or will someone just be appointed?
Clerk to the Committee
It will be put out to tender.
How long will that take?
Clerk to the Committee
A couple of weeks.
Therefore, the person to be appointed will review all of the information and documentation and report to the committee and we will then decide on the witnesses who may need to be called, etc.
Clerk to the Committee
It will be based on the evidence we have taken up to and including that which will be heard today. The rapporteur will record all of the work of the Committee of Public Accounts.
Will hearings take place?
Yes. We are bringing the matter of bank stabilisation full circle. The evidence given at this hearing will be factored in. When the report has been drafted, we can then decide if additional work is required or if further witnesses should be called. We can do this as matters unfold.
Has a timeframe been set for completing this body of work?
The rapporteur will be appointed in the coming weeks. It is difficult to say how long it will take, but I imagine it will only be a matter of weeks. The work has already been done and the documentation is available.
In terms of launching the report, what will be the position?
Clerk to the Committee
The report will not be launched until after Easter.
Therefore, we will probably receive a draft report early after Easter-----
Clerk to the Committee
Yes.
-----and take matters from there.
Clerk to the Committee
That is right.
We do not want to hold ourselves to that because there is a fair amount of work involved.
I am merely stating the first cut-off point will be consideration of the report from the rapporteur.
Yes.
One expects it to arrive mid-April.
Yes. We can then decide whether further witnesses need to be called.
The next item is correspondence received since our meeting on Thursday, 28 February. No. 3A is correspondence from Accounting Officers and-or Ministers. No. 3A.1 is correspondence received on 1 March from Mr. Fred Barry, chief executive of the National Roads Authority, in which is provided information requested at our meeting on 7 February. This is to be noted and published. I wonder whether the reply we received covers the information requested by Deputy Dowds on tolls.
Clerk to the Committee
I will check the position.
I wonder whether the information from the NRA that was outstanding is contained in the letter.
Clerk to the Committee
I will check.
No. 3B is correspondence dated 4 March 2013 from Mr. Cathal Guiomard, Commissioner for Aviation Regulation, forwarding correspondence with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on the Commission for Aviation Regulation pension scheme. This correspondence is to be noted.
No. 3C is documents relating to the committee's meeting on 7 March. No. 3C.1 is correspondence dated 4 March 2013 from Mr. John Moran, Secretary General of the Department of Finance, containing briefing papers for today's meeting. This correspondence is to be noted and published. No. 3C.2 is correspondence dated 5 March 2013 from Mr. John Moran, Secretary General of the Department of Finance, containing his opening statement. This is also to be noted and published.
No. 4 is reports and statements and accounts received since last meeting. No. 4.1 is the annual financial statements of County Kildare VEC for the year ending 31 December 2011. No. 4.2 is the annual financial statements of the National Roads Authority for the year ending 31 December 2011.
No. 5 is our work programme, details of which are appearing on members' computer screens. Speakers have been scheduled up to 2 May 2013. If members have any difficulty with this, they can contact the clerk.
No. 6 is a report on Irish Aid. A draft has been circulated and I ask members to contact the clerk if they have views on it. We will sign off on the report on Thursday next. I propose to launch it and the report on the HSE which was completed a few weeks ago at approximately 3 p.m. on Thursday, 14 March.
Is there any other business?
A number of articles have appeared in the media recently on the operation of Bord na gCon. I have also been contacted by a number of people involved in the greyhound industry about this matter. I am sure Bord na gCon would welcome an opportunity to address the issues which have arisen. In that context, would the committee consider writing to it to seek a response on the issues which have come into the public domain in respect of its operations? It would be of assistance to the industry at large if the position on these issues was clarified.
We have received correspondence in the past on certain issues. We may put all of the various documentation together and seek a response to it from Bord na gCon.
That would be a good way to proceed. Some relatively new issues have been the subject of discussion in the national media in recent weeks and it would be useful if a response on them could be sought.
Okay, we will do that.
The next item is the agenda for our meeting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 14 March. The agenda for the meeting will be the 2011 Appropriation Accounts and annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Vote 38 - social protection; chapter 21 - expenditure on welfare and employment schemes; chapter 22 - welfare overpayment debts; and chapter 23 - regularity of social welfare payments. Is that agreed? Agreed.