Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the IMF's report, in fairness to people here, I have to put it in context with reference to the first paragraph of the chapter. It reads: "A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Ireland in March 2013, at the request of the Secretaries General of the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, to evaluate". The witnesses invited them to give us some help. There was no mandatory requirement. It is important that it was just a case of them coming, looking at it and giving us some good suggestions and help. As Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, I do not see any legislative requirement to implement all of them. Some might have been good; some might have been excellent; some might just not work out and some might require consultation at EU level so as not to be inconsistent with EUROSTAT and other things. It is a helpful document, but it is not gospel.