Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are joined today by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, as a permanent witness to the committee. He is joined by the deputy director of audit, Mr. Shane Carton. The minutes of the meetings of 14 June and 15 June 2017 have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed.

With regard to matters arising, we will come to everything relevant in the course of the meeting today. We will move straight on to No. 3, which is correspondence received. There are three categories of correspondence. Some will relate to the meeting we had with the Garda Commissioner on Tuesday because they have not been noted. They arrived since our last public meeting but we did not note correspondence.

The first item is the opening statement from Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan for the meeting on 19 June. We note that because that meeting was held on Tuesday. The next item is opening statement for today's meeting from Professor Brian Norton. We note that. The next item is the opening statement for today's meeting from Professor Desmond Fitzgerald, president of University of Limerick. We note that and it will be published with the other opening statement. There is an opening statement for today's meeting from Dr. Brendan J. Murphy, president of Cork Institute of Technology. We note and will publish that.

Next is category B correspondence from Accounting Officers and Ministers and follow-up to previous meetings. Correspondence dated 14 June from Cork Institute of Technology is as follows: a briefing document as presented to the Committee of Public Accounts on 10 December 2015 which outlines the background and details of the KPMG report. We can raise that with its representatives when they are here shortly. There are also relevant extracts from Committee of Public Accounts opening statements by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Department of Education and Skills and Higher Education Authority. We also attach the full copy of the transcript of the Committee of Public Accounts hearing on Cork Institute of Technology, which was held on 10 Dec 2015. Members have it by way of background information. We note all that.

No. 603B is correspondence from the chairman of the Office of Public Works regarding a 2013 request to provide office accommodation for Caranua with instructions from the Department that Caranua would meet the appropriate rental costs. Do we have that letter on screen? Does anyone want to comment on it? It is No. 603B. What is the conclusion of that letter, towards the end of it? Do members want time to consider it? We will come back to it next week. We will hold it over until next week.

No. 607B is correspondence from the Comptroller and Auditor General dated 19 June.