Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegates and thank Mr. Watt for his presentation. The fact that the Department has embraced the Controller and Auditor General's report and welcomed his recommendations is very good and positive in view of external developments in this country at the moment in regard to other reports he has produced. I welcome that. The Department has clearly put its hands up. It has clearly been put in context that there has been good compliance, by and large. It has to be said that there has been good compliance. In regard to other matters, the Department has put its hands up. However, I would not be totally reassured by the delegates' responses here today or their written report. In fact, they have gone some way towards justifying their stance, which I do not believe is helpful. It would be helpful to come in and say that there has been good compliance in general and to outline what needs to be changed. The delegates are telling me there is a code of practice in place now. This is good. I will come back to this.

The delegates also tell me there is a debate on disclosure. Mr. Watt should note that may be a debate we should have some day but I get a little nervous when I hear about a debate about keeping things confidential. It is a question of attracting good people. Everything Members of Dáil Éireann do is open and accountable. My severance pay as a councillor has been in every paper in the country. My salary and that of every Deputy are made known throughout the country. Presumably, we are attracting good Deputies to the Dáil. The process is open and accountable. The delegates should bear that in mind when having their debate on how to attract good people.