Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes it is. It is only a survey. If the Deputy wants to talk to the secretariat about that we will issue a more specific letter. This is noted and published.

Correspondence item No. 958 is from Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, dated 24 November 2017 in regard to an individual who has made a protected disclosure regarding the Irish Prison Service. The correspondence states that there is a review taking place in the Irish Prison Service which should be completed by the end of this year. It is suggested that we write to the director of the Irish Prison Service and request that the committee get an information note on this review in the new year. Do members have any comments on this? I suggest that instead of writing to the Irish Prison Service we keep the correspondence directly with the Minister, as the safest way. This is about a protected disclosure. We have a correspondence from the Minister and I suggest we keep that line of communication open rather than dealing the committee dealing with the body under the Department. Agreed? Agreed.

The next item is correspondence item 959 from Deputy Jim Daly, dated 15 November 2017, relating to tracker mortgage rates converting to variable rates, and the correspondence encloses various communications with the Central Bank as well as replies to parliamentary questions that Deputy Daly has received on this matter. As this matter is being examined by the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach I suggest that we forward this to that committee for inclusion in their examination and we will inform Deputy Daly of same. I have looked at the correspondence and I believe it should have gone to the other committee rather than this committee. The secretariat will forward it on to that committee. It is more appropriate for them. We will also notify Deputy Daly of this. Agreed? Agreed.

Finally I wish to raise an issue that is not an item of correspondence on the schedule. The clerk and I have looked at a piece of correspondence in respect of a particular case that was sent to me as the Chairman of the committee, by a company concerning a client and the client's dealings with the Irish Permanent TSB, where an incorrect interest rate had been charged. The letter and the attached documents contain a considerable amount of personal and private information about the individual concerned such as amounts borrowed, date of birth, address and income. The matter is not within the remit of the committee and I propose to not circulate the correspondence or include it on our list. It is not a matter for the Committee of Public Accounts, it is an individual case and I propose it is returned to the company who sent it to us to ask them to pursue the matter with the Financial Ombudsman who deals independently with unresolved complaints from consumers about their individual dealings with financial service providers. This specific case came to me as the Chairman. If it had come to me in my constituency office I might have looked at it but it is certainly not a Committee of Public Accounts matter. We will ask the company to take it up with the Financial Ombudsman. Agreed? Agreed.

The next item is statements and accounts received since the last meeting. These figures are on screen now.