David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a more fundamental point in regard to this correspondence. It is fair to say that when Accounting Officers come in and we put very detailed and specific questions to them, they will not always have the necessary information at their fingertips, so it is reasonable that follow-on information is sometimes needed. Most are very helpful in that regard and we get the information very quickly. There is a difference between such situations and Accounting Officers having basic information prior to meetings or, sometimes, purposely not having it so that we cannot discuss certain issues. That makes the work of the committee very difficult. This is not the first time for very simple, basic questions to be put on issues that the Accounting Officer should know and have anticipated or been given a heads-up are the type of issues we want to discuss. However, when we ask the questions, the information is not available but we get a very comprehensive document afterwards. As I have said previously, there is no point getting a comprehensive document afterwards when the issue is to be discussed on the day. That is unfair to the committee. Perhaps we should consider seeking more detailed notes in advance on key issues we know will be topical and the basis of the discussion. That would be of assistance to the committee. We receive many such documents afterwards, many of which answer the questions we want answered but not in a way whereby we can probe the Accounting Officers. They leave the committee meeting and send on a detailed report. We then read the report, criticise the officer and are upset and that is the end of it; we move on and the same thing happens again. It is in our power to change that if we wish to do so. If an Accounting Officer does not have the required information, he or she should be told to return to the committee the following week or whenever. We may have to make examples of some Accounting Officers. In fairness, most have the necessary information and there have been some recent examples of very good exchanges. We need to manage the meetings a bit more and do more planning before witnesses come in. This document from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is fantastic but it would have been great to have had the information before the meeting.