Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Comptroller and Auditor General. I was not thinking so much about the Comptroller and Auditor General's office but about the staff of the Committee of Public Accounts. The Chairman said for the HSE alone we could have a standing Committee of Public Accounts meeting week after week because there is so much to do. If we have a more thorough investigation into NAMA next year there will be more meetings. This issue alone has prompted additional meetings. We do not want to drop the ball. We want to ensure the Committee of Public Accounts has enough resources to allow it to run two or three meetings back to back in a given week without stretching those resources too thinly. If we need to request additional staff from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, we should do so. While I am cognisant that this would be an extra expense on the State, it would also be a good investment because the amount of money we are dealing with in certain instances is so significant that we must ensure we are examining it appropriately and ensuring value for money and oversight of how that money is spent.