Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will put the Accounting Officer on notice that the committee will deal specifically with that funding. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Item No. 271C is a copy of an email sent to Mr. Dara Connolly, president of the Irish Pharmacy Union, regarding deficiencies in the legal system. I propose that we note it. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Item No. 272C, i and ii, is correspondence received from Deputy Catherine Murphy regarding a report from the Garda internal audit section which uncovered several financial irregularities. An article from The Sunday Timesis attached. The report has not been published. I propose that we write to the Garda Commissioner as Accounting Officer, asking her to indicate when the report will be published and to forward a copy to the committee. We will not publish the report on the website once received. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Item No. 274C is correspondence received from an individual on the Courts Service review of the management and performance of the spectrum growth fund. It is about the wards of court issue which was dealt with extensively by the previous committee. At one of our first meetings last year we received a minute from the Department on the previous committee’s report on wards of court. The Department explained that it was looking at how the fund was being looked at. I propose that we write to it to look at developments in the light of the minute given to us. I also propose that we forward a copy of the latest correspondence on the review that has taken place and look for a response. Is that agreed? Agreed. It should be noted that the fund is managed by the President of the High Court and that the Judiciary is not answerable to the Oireachtas. However, we can still try to be as constructive as possible in the matter.

I return item No. 125C. It was agreed at our meeting of 11 November to return to this item which concerns a letter received from an individual about Horse Racing Ireland. This and the previous committee, as well as several politicians and committees, have been approached by the person in question on several occasions. We also agreed to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Legal Adviser’s office, with all of the correspondence received from the individual since the start of the Thirty-second Dáil, to make a decision on if and how we could progress it further.

The clerk has been in touch with the Parliamentary Legal Adviser whose advice is that Horse Racing Ireland as a body audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General is accountable to this committee in respect only of its audited financial accounts. It is not the role of the Committee of Public Accounts to investigate the handling of complaints by such a body in respect of a specific individual or to become involved in resolving individual complaints between citizens and the body concerned.

In addition, and perhaps more importantly, the individual refers in correspondence that letters exhibited by him will be used in High Court case number 2015/10553/P. The Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser has checked the court listings and it appears that the person initiated proceedings on 16 December 2015 against Ireland, the Attorney General, the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner and that his case is listed for hearing on 23 March 2017. Therefore, it would also be in breach of Standing Order 59 of the Standing Orders for this committee to engage with any party to live proceedings. A copy of a draft letter is on members' screens.

I propose we write to the individual in question informing him of same and that we will be returning any future correspondence in relation to the matter to him. Could members take a moment to look at the letter we are proposing which has, essentially, been drafted by the Parliamentary Legal Adviser? There are live court proceedings on the matter and the Parliamentary Legal Adviser is telling us that we should not be dealing with it. Does anyone wish to comment on the letter or can we agree? I will give members a moment to look at it. There has been extensive correspondence. It is the person's right to write to us and bring these matters to our attention but after considering the matter since December, the Parliamentary Legal Adviser has recommended that we do not deal with it. We gave a commitment that we would try to deal with it before the end of January. Do members have any comments or do they agree or disagree with the contents? Can we get approval for the clerk to issue that letter on behalf of the committee?