Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It does beggar belief. In the closing paragraphs of the chapter on ICT in the authority's most recent report, it is stated that the forthright way in which Garda ICT has laid out an unvarnished picture of the current situation in its interactions with the authority is to be welcomed. I am wondering if Ms Feehily stands over that statement. If ICT had given the authority an unvarnished picture, would that not have involved it saying it had been giving contracts out to Accenture without tender, that Accenture staff are the only external IT contractors who do not record their attendance and hours on an electronic clocking system, that the Garda had been paying Accenture in advance and that the lack of expenditure controls may not satisfy the European Commission? That would have been unvarnished. Instead, what the authority got was fiction. It gives a glowing appraisal yet it is supposed to have an oversight function. Does Ms Feehily stand over the statement that its presentation was unvarnished and good?