Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Can I just interrupt the witness? All of that has repeatedly been said by the Commissioner and others and that has all been accepted. It has not been accepted, however, by the people who carried out the various reports including the McGee report, the Nolan report and the internal audit, which said that all this was off the balance sheet, irregular and outside of financial control. Giving me the historical aspect again is not helpful. What we are looking at was completely outside of acceptable standards, not looking back now, but in 2006, 2008 and 2010. That is the difficulty that we have. It does not inspire confidence when the witnesses keep going back to that narrative. It would be more inspiring for us to hear the witnesses say that they are dealing with the lack of candour. Where does the lack of candour come from? Mr. Howard, as chairman of the audit committee, says that there is still a lack of candour. That is the question for the witnesses to answer, not the historical legacy justifying something that cannot be justified because various experts have said that it is outside. The Comptroller and Auditor General has said this. These are the questions.