David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As a new member, I found the Comptroller and Auditor General's presentation very helpful. I commend the Chairman and the Vice Chairman on their roles and wish them well in them over the next number of years. We can have both options when it comes to getting information to the committee. We can get the information in the way the committee got in the past but we could get a hybrid version of it where we could get more visual, shorter presentations and it would be up to us to dip deeper if we wanted to, although we would have to get full information. That would be a good way to start and we could see how it works out.

On the question of the lines of demarcation and the issue of local government, I do not want to deal with the substantive issue as I will deal with that under item 4 of the work programme, which is the use of public private partnerships, PPPs, and how much State money is spent on PPPs. The National Development Finance Agency is responsible for all PPPs over €20 million and all PPPs generally, except in the areas of transport and local government. A central unit of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform chairs the steering committee and has responsibility for all PPPs. Local government has developed a range of PPPs in all sorts of areas, ranging from waste to wastewater. If it so wished, would it be possible for the committee to deal with PPPs, including local government, given that a central unit of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has overall responsibility for PPPs? I will deal with the substantive issue later under item 4.