David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is section 45. It states:

(1) The audit committee shall-(a) advise the Garda Commissioner on financial matters relating to his or her functions...(2) The audit committee’s duties under subsection (1)(a) include advising on the following matters:(a) the proper implementation of Government guidelines on financial issues;

(b) compliance with section 22 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 , section 19 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993...

(c) the appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness of the Garda Síochána’s procedures relating to...

(ii) seeking sanction for expenditure and complying with that sanction,

(iii) acquiring, keeping custody of and disposing of assets,

(iv) risk management,

(v) financial reporting, and

That makes it very clear that internal audit in An Garda Síochána has a very specific duty. The section goes on to say there should be a report to the Commissioner. For internal audit to be able to report to the Commissioner, it needs to get information. That makes it all the more troubling, with respect to Mr. Dunne, that internal audit would not have got information when it should have got information. It is also troubling because internal audit would then have had a responsibility to pass on information to the Comptroller and Auditor General's office, which we also know did not happen until 2016.