Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Public Accounts Committee

Business of Committee

10:10 am

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

No. 3A.10 is correspondence dated 12 July 2013 from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, regarding the Quigley report. We have dealt with this.

No. 3A.11 is correspondence dated 9 July 2013 from Mr. Brian Purcell, Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality, regarding the additional information requested at the meeting of 16 May 2013. It is to be noted and published.

No. 3A.12 is correspondence dated 17 July 2013 from Mr. Paul O'Toole, director general of FÁS, providing additional information requested at the meeting of 4 July 2013. The correspondence, which is marked confidential, relates to the lease of a property in Tolka Valley business park that could not be used for its intended purpose. We should come back to this in the autumn. I will be guided by whether members think this matter warrants further examination. When Deputy McDonald raised this issue, she asked for those papers to be submitted. Maybe we will check with her to see how she wants the matter to be pursued.

No. 3A.13 is correspondence dated 15 July 2013 from Mr. Tony O'Brien, director general designate of the Health Service Executive, providing additional information requested at the meeting of 20 June 2013. It is to be noted. This correspondence relates to the operation of the unofficial SIPTU account. We will return to this matter in the autumn.

No. 3A.14 is correspondence dated 17 July 2013 from Mr. Ray Mitchell of the parliamentary and regulatory affairs division of the Health Service Executive, providing additional information requested at the meeting of 25 April 2013. It is to be noted and published.

We will move on to individual correspondence. No. 3B.1 is correspondence dated 28 June 2013 from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, regarding an issue previously raised by Terry Melia regarding National University of Ireland, Galway. It is to be noted and a copy forwarded to Mr. Melia.

No. 3B.2 is correspondence dated 28 June 2013 from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, regarding an issue previously raised by an anonymous source regarding University College Cork. It is to be noted.

No. 3B.3 is correspondence dated 3 July 2013 from Mr. Bev Cotton of Clonakilty, County Cork regarding Youthreach Macroom and County Cork VEC. It is to be noted. We are getting a great deal of correspondence from employees and former employees of County Cork VEC. While we cannot deal with the individual grievances, the Comptroller and Auditor General's audit of the 2011 accounts will examine whether these complaints show up systemic weaknesses at the VEC. If they do, we will deal with them in that way.

No. 3B.4 is correspondence dated 10 July 2013 from Mr. Brendan Ryan, chief executive of the Courts Service, providing a note previously requested regarding digital audio recordings. It is to be noted and a copy forwarded to Mr. Kevin Fitzgerald, who was the original complainant. A further letter was received from that person this morning. We will ask that it be circulated to the various Departments for response.

No. 3B.5 is correspondence dated 10 July 2013 from Mr. Dick Brady, assistant city manager of Dublin City Council, providing a note previously requested regarding issues raised by Mr. Tom Bourke. It is to be noted and a copy forwarded to Mr. Bourke, who was the original complainant.

No. 3B.6 is correspondence dated 11 July 2013 from Mr. Harry Lawlor, managing director of HL Commodity Foods in County Limerick, regarding a note previously provided by Shannon Development regarding units 6 and 7. This relates to a dispute between a private company and a State body in relation to the sale of property. I suggest we should ask the Accounting Officer of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to review the papers to ensure all appropriate steps were taken by Shannon Development during the disposal of this property. We will forward the correspondence in the expectation of an early reply.

No. 3B.7 is correspondence dated 9 July 2013 from Ms Anne M. Nolan, secretary of the Montenotte Park residents association, regarding a note previously provided by the Department of Education and Skills regarding the use of funds allocated for school buildings. It is to be noted and a copy is to be forwarded to the Department of Education and Skills for a note on the issues raised.

No. 3B.8 is correspondence dated 17 July 2013 from Mr. William Treacy of Portlaoise, County Laois, seeking a correction of the record of the committee in respect of previous correspondence submitted. It is to be noted. The request has no basis and he will be informed accordingly.

No. 3B.9 is correspondence dated 17 July 2013 from Mr. Ray Mitchell of the parliamentary and regulatory affairs division of the Health Service Executive, regarding a list of internal audit reports for the third and fourth quarters 2012 released under freedom of information. It is to be noted and published.

We will move on to documents relating to today's committee meeting. No. 3C.1 is correspondence dated 10 July 2013 from Mr. John O'Sullivan, chief executive and commissioner of valuation in the Valuation Office. It is a briefing paper on matters to be considered at today's meeting and is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.2 is correspondence dated 11 July 2013 from Ms Niamh O'Donoghue, Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection. It is a briefing paper on matters to be considered today and is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.3 is correspondence received 16 July 2013 from Mr. John O'Sullivan, chief executive and commissioner of valuation. It is his opening statement and is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.4 is correspondence received 16 July 2013 from Ms Niamh O'Donoghue, Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection. It is her opening statement and is to be noted and published.

We will move on to reports and statements and accounts received since our meeting of 4 July last. We have received a number of such documents, including from Limerick County Enterprise Board, Cork Institute of Technology, the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, the National Oil Reserves Agency Limited and Microfinance Ireland. We have also received the annual report of IDA Ireland, which will be of relevance to our next meeting. We will note all of those documents.

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