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

The point I am making is that greater accountability is required for how taxpayers' money is spent, down to the point where it is spent. That requires reform of the legislation. I am not pointing a finger at a particular Department. I am saying there is a significant lack of oversight of the spending of taxpayers' money and how it is reported to the parent Department and thereafter the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. There is a difference of opinion, but I am not saying anybody has turned a blind eye to anything. I am saying that, in terms of oversight, there is a gap in the legislation and the powers of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, a matter which could easily be remedied. For example, if I was to ask the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General to explain how the school transport budget was spent, it would not be able to answer that question, although it should be able to do so. I will leave it at that.