Mr. Ted Owens:

We would have a credit controller. Our finance officer and our finance staff would be the credit controllers. The schools which had locally held bank accounts would also have had to report to their boards of management in those particular instances. The Department is anxious to ensure that no accounts of any sort are held at local level. We have issued instructions to that effect. For example, even if a school collects €4,000 or €5,00 for a trip to Spain or Italy, that money must be banked centrally, coded separately and paid out of that account. We are also introducing an electronic payment system in all our schools and centres. We are trying to cut out dealings in cash entirely.