Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The next item is 83C, a letter from an individual describing him or herself as a concerned taxpayer, in regard to a charity shop in Bantry. I propose we forward this to the Charities Regulatory Authority. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Item 84C is a letter from an individual alleging a misappropriation of public money by Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board, ETB. The letter refers to the use of public funds by the ETB for legal services, against the advice of the Department. I propose that we write to the Department requesting a note on this case and on the action to be taken. We will note that for now.

Item 87C is a letter from a business owner who is trying to sell his property and who claims that NAMA is delaying the release of information. I propose that we write to NAMA asking for a note on the reason for the delay in the release of this information. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Correspondence 89C is a letter from Mr. Mark Ewbank of the UK Parliament inviting members of this committee to the Global Tax Transparency Summit in London on 8 and 9 December next, organised by the British Public Accounts Committee. It is a very topical issue and if any member is interested in attending, please contact the clerk and we can prepare an estimate and consider the matter.

The next items, 90C and 93C, are e-mails from Deputy David Cullinane concerning documentation and required answers to questions relating to the committee's examination of Project Eagle. We have discussed that. It is on our file and we dealt with it earlier this morning. That is noted.

The next item is an e-mail from Deputy Mary Lou McDonald concerning possible invitees. That is the matter to which the Deputy referred earlier. We had a brief discussion already this morning and we will come back to that matter again as soon as possible.

In our private session this morning we discussed a disclosure which centres on the interpretation and implementation of social protection legislation. While our legal advice suggests that it is not within the remit of this committee, the committee acknowledges that the central point of the disclosure may merit further discussion in a different forum. We will be writing to the individual to let him know our decision on this matter, following our detailed discussion this morning.

The next items of correspondence are the statements of accounts received since our last meeting. They are all clear audit opinions from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, the Ombudsman for Children, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Carlow Institute of Technology and InterTrade Ireland. If any members have any queries on these items, they will find copies of them in the Oireachtas Library. No issues have been brought to our attention by the Comptroller and Auditor General in connection with any of the aforementioned statements of accounts.

The next item is our work programme, which has been circulated to members and which we discussed already this morning. The Revenue Commissioners will come before us next week and the Minister for Finance will be with us at 2.30 p.m. today. Next Thursday we will meet Mr. Brian Rowntree, former member of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee, to discuss Project Eagle. On Tuesday, 18 October we will meet three members of the NAMA board, Mr. Willie Soffe, Mr. Oliver Ellingham and Mr. Brian McEnery. On Thursday, 20 October we will meet representatives of the Department of Social Protection for a normal, scheduled meeting to deal with the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. On Tuesday, 25 October we will continue our examination of Project Eagle with officials and former officials from NAMA. On Wednesday, 26 October the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Mr. Martin McGuinness MLA will appear before the committee. The next meeting is scheduled for quite some time later, Thursday, 17 November, when we will meet Ms Éilish Finan, Mr. John Mulcahy and Mr. John Corrigan from the board of NAMA. We have also scheduled a meeting with officials from the Department of Finance on 24 November but I propose that we bring that meeting forward.

Since our last meeting, the Taoiseach and the party leaders have agreed to the establishment of a commission of investigation in respect of Project Eagle. I expect the commission to be established shortly, a judge to be appointed, systems put in place and hearings to commence. I do not know exactly when this will happen but it would be very prudent for this committee to have concluded its work before the commission begins so that we are not carrying out our examination while a commission of investigation is examining the same matter. I would hope that we would finish our public hearings by mid-November, with a view to producing our report by early December. Then our report and any documentation we have received would be available to the commission of investigation. From that point of view, we will be very busy for a few weeks but it is important that we, as the committee of public accounts conclude our examination, do our job and produce a report. It will then be up to others to follow the matter up further. That is the general position at the moment.

As there is no other business, we will suspend the meeting for ten minutes until the Minister arrives. He is scheduled to be here at 2.30 p.m. We have just received his opening statement, copies of which have been circulated to members.