Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We note the statement. Members are free to download the set of accounts and peruse them. The next item is the Mental Health Commission. The note says it has a clear audit opinion. However, attention is drawn to the fact that the commission accounts for the costs of superannuation entitlements as they become payable. That is standard in the health sector. The next item is the Criminal Assets Bureau. I thank God that the note says clear audit opinion. The next item is the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. The note says clear audit opinion. The final item is the Special EU Programmes Body. The note says that it is a North-South body that administers EU-funded grant schemes and that it has a clear audit opinion.

That completes No. 4 on the agenda today. We had a substantial list because we have not met in approximately four weeks. We will now discuss our work programme. I will run through it quickly. It is really an update. Some people were unable to come here on the date suggested and we have added some more items to the agenda. Perhaps next week, when more people are here, we can have a more detailed discussion.

Next Thursday, we will discuss the national property revaluation programme with the Valuation Office. On 1 February, we will discuss shared services, specifically the management of salary overpayments, with the National Shared Services Office. On 8 February, we have officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development in attendance to discuss the Dormant Account Fund. On 15 February, we will meet to discuss corporation tax receipts and our engagement with multinationals and a consultant. We will receive an update on the matter in private session. On Thursday, 22 February, we will deal with the corporation tax issue.

On 1 March, we will discuss a chapter compiled by the Comptroller and Auditor General on grant funding for the arthouse cinema in Galway. We will have officials from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in attendance. They were scheduled to come here earlier but the date did not suit all around so we re-scheduled.

On 8 March, officials from the Department of Finance will be in attendance to discuss the Exchequer financial outturn, Government debt, appropriation accounts etc. Some of these details must be confirmed but I have outlined the plan as of today. On 22 March, we will have officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in attendance to discuss public private partnerships, the Vote for the Department, and superannuation and retired allowances.

On 29 March, we will have officials from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to discuss central government funding of local authorities, the appropriation accounts for the Department and also a special report on motor taxation.

On 19 April, which is after Easter, we will have officials from the Department of Justice and Equality dealing with the ICT systems in the Department, which was a chapter in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. On Thursday, 26 April officials from the Tax Appeals Commission will appear before the committee.

There are issues as part of our work programme to which we will have to return. We also want to deal with the Courts Service. Other issues being suggested by members are the fair deal scheme, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, and the ETBs. We will have to look at the education sector, the Cork Institute of Technology and the review of spinout companies in third level. There is also the Thorn report into the University of Limerick and the report into Kildare-Wicklow ETB, which will be ready quite soon. Quite a few of those are in the education sector. The issue of RTÉ has been mentioned. This morning, we mentioned that we would have officials from the Office of Government Procurement. That is an indicative list. Many of the items added on at the end are in the education sector as it happens.

On the draft work programme, I propose that we have a further discussion later today as we will deal with some items of our work programme in private session with the help of the secretariat.

One of the chapters in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report deals with the control of Ireland's bilateral aid programme. The following countries are the principal areas where a programme is in operation: Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam. Over the course of the last Dáil, representatives of the committee travelled to Ethiopia, Mozambique and Vietnam to see at first hand how the bilateral programme is working in consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The purpose of the visit is to increase understanding and review the controls that are in place to ensure that the public’s money is used appropriately. The visiting team would be expected to report back to the committee.

There has not been such a visit in this Dáil and I think it might be appropriate to consider travelling to one of these countries, possibly one of the larger areas, such as Tanzania or Uganda. I would like to get members views on this. Would this be in consultation with the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade or strictly the Committee of Public Accounts?