Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am going to ask for the help of the Comptroller and Auditor General's office here. Are we now finding that every third level institution we have been dealing with - this has not been clear to the PAC for years - has two sets of accounts, one going to the HEA and a different set going to the Comptroller and Auditor General? Is the Comptroller and Auditor General happy working on one set at university level while we are looking at a different set here? The difference between them is a deficit in the accounts going to the HEA of €1.7 million and the accounts coming to the Comptroller and Auditor General showing a surplus of €2.843 million. That is a difference of €4.5 million between the two sets of accounts. I know the university is saying it is treated as capital expenditure but the witnesses must appreciate from the public point of view that it is utterly confusing. We have to get to the bottom of this and I will be asking for a comment on where we take it from there.