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

I want to bring another matter to the attention of the committee. Mr. Dorr wrote to me directly, strictly confidentially, as "John McGuinness, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee". In that communication, he said that:

In the public forum you belittled an email sent by me to the committee clerk on the evening of 9 April 2013, and you demeaned me. It is very easy to score cheap shots for your own expedience, but at my expense, while skulking behind the shield of parliamentary privilege. Your readiness to abuse this privilege calls into question your suitability to be a member of the Oireachtas Committee, not to mind your suitability to be Chairman of such an exalted one as the Public Accounts Committee. No doubt this strictly confidential letter will not be leaked and will be consigned to your nonsense file.

I will consign it to the nonsense file but after I ask the members to publish it, or formally leak it, whatever way he wants to describe it, but that is what I am doing with it. I want to put it in the public domain and circulate it to members. As far as I am concerned, we have a job of work to do. It is set out clearly in regard to the spending of public money. Some of that money went to deal with the issues that arose and that we dealt with over the last two meetings. We have a right within our remit to pursue the €95 million referred to and how it was spent. It is as simple as that. I am not making it personal and I do not think any members of the committee are making it personal either. It is a matter that needs to be dealt with and we need to conclude our business on it.
The matters that have been brought to our attention through the legal process are just delaying that. Without any further comment, I will ask the clerk to talk to the members as soon as the draft is completed and legally tested.
I will now call on Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, followed by Deputy Eogan Murphy and Deputy Shane Ross.