Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge Professor Donnelly's opening statement. I have to make an important statement before we commence our meeting.

The accounts the president presented here today cover the period 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2014. The institute has not completed the audit of the accounts for any period since then. For any organisation to come to the Committee on Public Accounts with accounts that are three years old is a disgrace. It is insulting to the committee and to the Irish taxpayer that an organisation as big as WIT should be putting our committee in a position of wasting its time discussing items that are three years old.

I also note the other colleges here before us today, the National University of Ireland Galway, NUIG, whose accounts also only cover the period 2013-2014. Its accounts are three years out of date and it expects us to spend our time discussing them. In respect of the Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT, the accounts before us today are for the same period, 2013-14. I am informed by the Comptroller and Auditor General's office that it has recently certified the accounts for 2015 but they have not yet been published.

If anybody came into the president's organisation applying for any position in WIT, and I would say the same for NUIG and DIT, with a curriculum vitae, CV, that was three years out of date they would not get an interview. These three third level institutions expect to take the time of the Committee on Public Accounts, the national Parliament discussing items that are three years out of date. There are very important issues we do need to discuss and this puts us in a dilemma.

I am also sending a signal to every other public body that ever comes in here with accounts out of date, they will get short shrift. I am also directing my comments to the HEA and the Department of Education and Skills who allow this position to continue. I find it unacceptable that the Department would roll out money, year in year out, for the Estimates in 2015, 2016 and 2017 without sight of up to date audited accounts from the witnesses' organisation. Due to the seriousness of this situation we are now suspending the meeting while the committee goes into private session to discuss whether it will proceed with today's events.

The meeting is now suspended. I ask witnesses to please leave the room and remain outside until the committee decides what to do next.