Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a lot of questions I hope to get through. The Chairman, in fairness to him, has been consistent in his wish to examine this whole sector, and I can see exactly why from his opening question. However, the response from the Department's Accounting Officer was incredible and, indeed, scary. It was the most basic question the Secretary General could have been asked, and he should reflect on that and on his response. If this is the manner in which financial control, oversight and management of the various sectors over which he has purview is conducted, it is very worrying. Our job in this committee is to examine financial controls to ensure everything is correct and up to speed, but our function also concerns looking at processes, value for money and quality of service, the latter of which is incredibly important. That the Accounting Officer was not able to answer the Chairman's question, and was not even prepared for the question, really worries me.

Before beginning my questions, I draw the Chairman's attention to the fact I have known Mr. Paul O'Toole for a considerable amount of time. In fact, he used to be my boss in Bord Fáilte.