12 Ean 2012, 17:47
The spring work programme of the Committee of Public Accounts was agreed today which will see a number of high profile meetings in the coming months.
Included in the programme are hearings on:
• Financial Controls at the Irish Red Cross [hearing resumes on Thursday 19th January] to deal with allegations of financial mismanagement and poor corporate governance
• the whole issue of nursing home costs and also the roll out of primary care with the HSE (26/1/12)
• the legal strategy pursued by the State in relation to the operation of the National Aquatic Centre (16th Feb 2012)
• the variation in the costs of road maintenance across county councils (16th Feb 2012)
• the resumed hearing on the operation of the unofficial SIPTU account which was publicly funded and which was used for many unorthodox purposes (1st March. 2012)
• the outcome of the dioxin scare in 2008 which lead to the expensive recall of pigmeat
• the use of central government money by local authorities to buy housing land and the likely impairment that arises due to the fall in value of land purchased.(15/3/12)
• the investment of €2 2 billion in water schemes where losses due to leakage are twice the OECD average (15/3/12)
• the effectiveness of employment support initiatives by the State (29/3/12).
Chairman of the Committee, John Mc Guinness TD, said that the Committee faced a busy year as it tackled waste and inefficiency and examined whether better value could have been achieved for the State expenditure.
Deputy McGuinness said: “It is important that all the examinations by the Committee are carried out from a perspective of whether services could be delivered at a lower cost and to scrutinise where there is waste, as is the case of the land banks held by local authorities, and see how the cost to the taxpayer can now be minimised.
It is equally important that we get to the bottom of the operation of the unofficial SIPTU account and the Committee has agreed to write to SIPTU setting out what needs to happen in terms of cooperation with the HSE prior to our next meeting on this issue on 1st March, 2012.
We are awaiting reports from the C&AG into NAMA and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and these are likely to feature in the period after Easter.”
A copy of the work programme is available on the attached link:
Ends
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551
Committee of Public Accounts
Membership
John McGuinness (Chairman)
Kieran O’Donnell (Vice Chairman)
Paul J Connaughton,
John Deasy,
Paschal Donohoe,
Anne Ferris,
Simon Harris,
Michael McCarthy,
Mary Lou McDonald,
Sean Fleming,
Eoghan Murphy,
Derek Nolan,
Shane Ross