Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To the best of my knowledge, this report was not referred to or brought to the attention of the committee. I am open to correction but having trawled the records, I do not believe that is the case. Will Professor Donnelly or Mr. Boland offer an explanation as to why the report was not brought to the committee's attention. I will cut to the chase and explain the reason it interests me. There is no doubt that the level of expenditure and the manner of accounting for it using the president's office as a cost centre was hair-raising. When we debated these matters the view was that the Professor Donnelly's predecessor, the former president, had acted extravagantly. To some extent, that holds true to this day. I will not pre-empt that but I note the report states that at no stage has it been suggested that any expenditure incurred in the president's office was for purposes other than that of the institute. I am zoning in on that statement. The tone of it moderates the position as regards Professor Donnelly's predecessor. While it does not change the position entirely, it certainly moderates it as regards the former president's personal interest or lack thereof. Certainly, there was no suggestion of personal gain. Having said all of that, why was this report not given to the committee?