Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The first issue relates to the Social Insurance Fund, the audit for which was completed on 22 September 2015. It is a clear audit opinion but attention is drawn to the estimated level of irregular payments in respect of certain schemes paid for from the fund. I consider this is material and I have outlined my concerns in chapter 16 of the Report on the Accounts of the Public Services. I also draw attention to a chapter on the management of redundancy and insolvency scheme debts. These are payments that emanate from the Social Insurance Fund and there are liabilities that could be collected. I have a report on that. Chapter 15 of the report relates to the mechanisms used to provide cashflow for the Social Insurance Fund because under schemes there is a mismatch between income and outflow.

I have also drawn attention to Bord na gCon which had a deficit of €1 million at group level in 2014. Note 25 of the financial statements discloses the basis upon which the board considers it appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going-concern basis. It is not the first occasion on which there has been a deficit and there is a significant borrowing question for Bord na gCon. There are also continued instances of non-compliance with public procurement guidelines in 2014, although I believe the situation is improving. These are matters which the committee can examine next week when Bord na gCon appears before it.