Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the clerk for his assistance with this. I have been trying to get to the bottom of what safeguards are in place for taxpayers' money regarding the running of elections and serious concerns have been brought to me that not all returning officers have followed tendering guidelines and rules for obtaining equipment such as tables and chairs for polling stations and count centres, which comes to a significant amount of money. There is also an issue with regard to how items are invoiced and what documentation is provided. I raised a parliamentary question to the Minister of the Environment, Community and Local Government on 19 June but it was disallowed by the Ceann Comhairle, which is fine. He stated the Minister was not accountable to the House. The note obtained by the clerk clearly states the OPW is the responsible body with regard to the expenditure of funds. The note is helpful but it does not answer the specific question. We need, in tabular form, a list of the returning officers, whether they tendered for the purchase or use of equipment during the election, what were the amounts of the tender and what was the amount spent by each returning officer for the local and European elections. This information should not be impossible to get, but trying to get to the bottom of it has become like trying to discover the third secret of Fatima.