Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The Secretary General was referring to the point in the audit certificate which drew attention to the fact that the board had not carried out a review of the effectiveness of the system of internal financial control for 2013. It is required by the colleges' code of governance and where it does not happen in a timely way, we draw attention to that because, as the Secretary General said, it is a very important aspect of the control system.

I would make the point that this is the first year we have drawn attention to that in regard to St. Angela's College. The college has, in correspondence with the committee, drawn attention to the fact that they were concerned about its business viability during that period and they prioritised an analysis of their business affairs to try to deal with the deficit they have incurred. I have also drawn attention to that and particularly the basis upon which they decided that it was appropriate to present their affairs on a going concern basis. There is a history of deficits in the college from 2011. The deficit that year was around €116,000. In 2012, it was €528,000 and in 2013, it was €236,000. The combined effect of that has been to practically eliminate the retained revenue reserves of the college. The directors were concerned to draw attention to the fact that the income currently generated is not sufficient for the company to continue indefinitely. I have drawn attention to that in the opinion as well.