Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will agree to that and move on. That was just the first, but main, recommendation that we needed to discuss because it was the only one that was not accepted. We will write back to the Department saying that we reject the notion that "it is not feasible to ascertain the specific attribution of all of the relevant activities and costs". It is not beyond the ability of the public service to do that. We will ask it to reconsider. We will also put it on notice that we want a copy of the reports that are in the final preparation stage and that its Accounting Officer, the HEA and the Department of Education and Skills will be appearing before us to discuss the matter shortly.

Deputy Cullinane has already referred to the next recommendation. Before recommendation No. 28 on page 3, the minute states that the HEA and Knowledge Transfer Ireland, KTI, are producing a report that was due to be completed in December. I presume that this is the report that is still uncompleted. We need it urgently.

The Department of Education and Skills accepts our recommendation No. 28. The HEA was to write to third level institutions in the fourth quarter of 2017 to remind them of their legislative obligations under SIPO. We want to see a copy of that letter and verify that it was sent.

Regarding recommendation No. 29, the minute refers to the report that was to have been ready in December. Once again, we want to see a copy of it as quickly as possible.

On recommendation No. 34, the minute states that there must be compliance with national procurement guidelines. An issue that is relevant to the Comptroller and Auditor General arose at our previous meeting. We asked for measures to ensure that procurement was in line with the national guidelines. The minute reads:

All HEIs [higher education institutions] under the remit of the HEA are required to comply with national procurement guidelines. As part of the HEIs [sic] annual governance reporting to the HEA, HEIs must [certify] any non-compliance in respect of procurement and explain the actions taken to achieve compliance. In his annual certification of institutions' financial statements, the C&AG also draws attention to any instances of non-compliance.

Mr. McCarthy has told the committee that he sometimes only analyses compliance with procurement guidelines on a sample basis.