John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All of what the Minister has said is correct but it does not lead to transparency in the accounts. If money is allocated through the Department, or if the Department oversees the allocation of money through another Department, I expect someone will receive a comprehensive report on how the money is spent. While it is open to the Oireachtas committee to invite in the board, the CEO or the accounting officer, this does not happen regarding the accounts. We do not have sight of the accounts. We do not have a forensic examination of the accounts. I use the example of CIE because it involves a significant amount of money, within which is the school transport system that receives a significant amount of money and, in my opinion, serious issues arise in this regard. We do not seem as a State to be interested in pursuing the oversight of large amounts of money allocated through Departments to agencies and large organisations which provide services. There seems to be a reluctance on the part of the State to do this as well as a reluctance on the part of the Government, not just this Government but all Governments I have seen operate in the past, to provide the appropriate powers to the Comptroller and Auditor General to conduct an examination of the spend of taxpayers' money to the point of where it is spent. I say this because I served on committees where in opposition Members said one thing and produced reports but when in government those reports were never implemented. This is not a criticism of this Government, it is every Government.

I am anxious to see the type of reforms that will give us oversight in a way that satisfies the Members of the House and the members of the public who ask questions. Is there any movement towards this type of reform and towards grasping the nettle and dealing with these matters? One of the options for a Member of Parliament is to table a parliamentary question. The Minister should look at some of the answers to those questions. One can ask six different questions about the school transport system and one will get the exact same answer, cut and pasted, which does not deal with the issue or answer the question. It just gives one a whole load of rubbish. This is a waste of taxpayers' money and waste of people's time. I ask again whether we can look forward to the type of reform needed to have this forensic examination and accountability?