David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It goes on to state that during the meeting, which was greater than two hours duration though the Commissioner says it was less, "time was spent discussing Mr. Ruane's suggestion that all key external stakeholders (the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality) should immediately be notified before advancing the work of the steering committee further". It seems to me from this letter that Mr. Ruane got it. He knew that the Comptroller and Auditor General should be informed immediately and that was the advice he said he gave the meeting. It has been acknowledged by the Comptroller and Auditor General that it would have been better had he been informed. We now have an actual discussion and we have gone beyond whether, in the Commissioner's judgment, it should have been done or what she knew back then. There was an actual discussion at this meeting about whether the Comptroller and Auditor General should be informed and we have an opinion from the legal section that he should be informed immediately, but this was not done.