Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

While the Chairman wants to deal with these matters in general next week, this letter is a joke. I am glad we have it. It is making the situation worse for the Department and the HEA. I do not know who is pulling whose chain here. Did the HEA consult with them? On what basis was the letter written? It is full of contradictions based on the evidence we have seen here on multiple occasions. CIT is the organisation that still keeps giving to us here in the Committee of Public Accounts. It opens up more doors for us all of the time.

There are two issues here. As Deputy MacSharry has said, if one checks how the terms of reference were set, it transpires that they set their own terms of reference. This is just a continuation of that argument that it was okay. It has just gone another layer down the ladder. We have established this is totally wrong. The whole process by which they conducted the investigation was wrong and was corrupted - I use that term in a generic way - by them setting their own terms of reference. This is going down a further layer of explanation.

Second - I revert to what I said earlier on - based on the transcript of what was said by the witness who sat right in front of us, it also contradicts how the institute manages protected disclosures. The second half of this letter is deeply concerning to me as regards how a 2012 protected disclosure was handled because there is a contradiction in what is being stated by the institute. In addition, I note we asked the individuals when did they have protected disclosures. Based on the evidence given to us, it was my understanding that there was no acknowledgement that there was a protected disclosure. The documentation provided to us here, however, relates to a debate on whether there was a 2012 protected disclosure and if it came under the Act.

The HEA and the Department have a serious problem. I acknowledge we will discuss how protected disclosures are being dealt with next week but there seems to be something going on here and we need to get to the bottom of it. First, I am deeply concerned that the Department of Education and Skills is willing to buy the line, and continues to do so, that it is okay for one to set the terms of reference to investigate oneself.

Second, it is quite obvious that there are issues with CIT declaring what was or was not a protected disclosure. Now with the HEA and, potentially, the Department, this line seems to have been spun, which I believe will be contradicted in the very near future.