Mr. Paddy Bourke:

We did not merge with anybody but a huge volume of extra work was put our way via the new functions in respect of Student Universal Support Ireland, the community training centres and so on. I would like to see an amendment to the legislation to allow for a smaller quorum for meetings. The existing quorum of 12 causes difficulty for us because board members are not paid to attend and there are conflicting demands on people's time. Moreover, we never have a full complement of members at any given time because there is always a movement of people on and off boards.

There is another issue I wish to bring to the committee's attention. I have signed off on the accounts for 2015 and will sign off on those for 2016. However, I will have great difficulty signing off for 2017 in the absence of the appointment of an internal auditor. If that does not happen, it will create a major problem for us.