Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will note that. There is a lot of information in this which I believe all individual Members of the House will want to digest and use as they see fit. It is on the record from the Committee of Public Accounts point of view. I thank the Revenue for that useful information.

No. 628B (i) and (ii) is correspondence fromDr. Graham Love, chief executive officer of the Higher Education Authority, enclosing a report on procurement practices that has been commissioned by the Higher Education Authority. We will note and publish that and consider it as part of our work on the third level institutions.

No. 630B (i) to (iv) is information requested from An Garda Síochána. There is quite a lot of information here, all of which we will take into consideration in drafting a report, but I want to put it on record that we have received it. It includes notes from the meeting on 29 July 2015 between Ken Ruane and John Barrett, a statement on shares held in the name of the Garda Mess Committee, a report dated 20 April 2017 from Ken Ruane, head of legal affairs, to the chief administrative officer regarding the modernisation and renewal programme reporting structures. We will note and publish the correspondence.

No. 633B (i) to (ii)is correspondence dated 22 June 2017 from Mr Maurice Quinn, Secretary General of the Department of Defence, enclosing a note regarding the disposal of the former Naval Service vessel LE Aisling. A member requested that earlier.We will note and publish that correspondence, and any member should feel free to use it in their own capacity.

No. 634Bis correspondence dated 26 June 2017 from Ken Ruane providing clarification as requested by the committee regarding a meeting on 27 July 2015 and legal advice provided to the Commissioner. We will note and publish the correspondence.

The next item is Nos. 637B to 647B. The remaining items in Category B are in regard to our examination of finances in the Garda College. We will note and publish these, but I will list them for the record.

Nos. 638B (i) and (ii) is achronological explanation of the process used for taking, preparing, circulating and amending the audit committee minutes of 30 September 2015 and an e-mail re observations on minutes of the audit committee meeting on 20 September 2015.

No. 639B isan e-mail from Niall Kelly regarding the reporting arrangements for the head of internal audit.

No. 640B is theGarda Training Committee report on probationer training.

No. 641B (i) to (viii) isresponses to the draft interim audit report.

No. 642B is a note regarding managers who were responsible for the Garda College since 2005.

No. 643Bis an analysis of Garda restaurant accounts from 2009 to 2016.

No. 644Bis a note from Barry McGee re interactions with John Barrett.

No. 645B (i)is a letter from assistant commissioner McMahon re queries raised at the PAC meeting on 14 June 2017.

No. 645B (ii)is a letter from Revenue re income tax exemption in regard to Garda College Sportsfield Ltd.

No. 645B (iii)is a letter from the Department of Justice finance division re investments relating to the Garda Training Centre mess funds.

Correspondence 645 (iv)is a Garda Training Committee report on probationer training. This is a duplicate of the previous document and the Walsh report relevant sections. That was mentioned in passing at the previous meeting.

We asked for a copy of that report. There are various letters regarding conditions of service of Garda trainees and further various letters regarding the increase in allowances paid for student maintenance. There is an information note for the committee from Ms. Helen Hall, chief executive of the Policing Authority. Also, there is a letter from Mr. Michael Culhane to the chief administrative officer concerning the reference to "muddying up" and associated correspondence. There is correspondence from Mr. Noel Waters, Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality. This is an information note and appendices on the oversight functions of the Department in respect of An Garda Síochána and, in particular, Templemore.

The next item is correspondence - dated 13 June and carried over from the meeting on 22 June - from the chairman of the Office of Public Works, OPW, on the issue of the lower Lee Cork city flood relief scheme. It was agreed to postpone this correspondence for consideration today. This correspondence states:

Many options to address the flooding in Cork have been considered by the Design Team and assessed by reference to a comprehensive suite of technical, social, environmental and economic criteria. Arising from this detailed multi criteria analysis, a preferred option was identified and brought to exhibition. The estimated cost of the proposed scheme is €140 million based on 2017 construction costs including VAT.

As part of the statutory Exhibition process carried out between 12 December 2016 and 7 April 2017, over 1,000 submissions were received on the proposals. The submissions are currently being considered before the scheme is advanced to formal Confirmation (i.e. Ministerial approval) stage. OPW is in discussions with Cork City Council on the main issues arising to identify potential changes to the Scheme as a result. OPW is aware of alternative design ideas being put forward and all such proposals will be considered during this process.

I propose that we ask the OPW to keep us informed of and up to date on each stage of this project as it progresses. Deputy Catherine Murphy had requested this report, so I hope it is of some assistance to the people who raised the matter.