Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Regarding the whistleblower, much of this would not have come to light without the assistance of a whistleblower. Yet again there was a significant consequence for the whistleblower. If it is going to be on the work programme, the most effective time to talk to the whistleblower, which we should do, would be closer to the point where we will deal with this on the work programme because it will be fresh in our memory and of more assistance.

We should give some assurance that this matter will not be ignored and that we will revisit it.

I accept the point made about the Higher Education Authority, HEA. As several of us have repeatedly said, the HEA delegation was less than impressive when they were here. We want the HEA to change its culture of oversight. It should not be down to the Committee of Public Accounts to provide the oversight that the HEA is supposed to provide. It is not about outsourcing the job to some other agency or company.