John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raised the question because expenditure started at €30,000, which was a reasonable amount, but it travelled some distance to €180,000 and from there to €635,000. That is such an exceptional difference over the years that, in my view, someone should have picked up on it. I cannot accept the explanation given by the governing bodies that some of the auditing committees are voluntary. If a person is appointed to a committee of that kind and has a job to do, whether voluntary or otherwise, he or she has a responsibility to carry out that job to the finest level of detail. That is the reality of a position on an auditing committee. At a previous meeting, this committee heard from an official in the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government who was not quite sure if he was a director of a particular company or not, when Deputy Fleming raised the matter with him. There are many issues of concern with regard to people's participation on these committees and governing bodies. The people involved really need to know exactly what they are getting into.

Was Dr. Jim Port employed by the institute or the Department of Education and Skills?