Clerk to the Committee:

At the relevant meeting, the Chairman raised the point that while expenditure must be sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure of Reform, there is no requirement to inform the Department if the money is subsequently written off. In this case, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was not aware of what had taken place. The Department should remain involved in the process and it should be difficult to write off money. Where it is written off, a detailed process should apply.