Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

It is a technical report. We tested it with Enterprise Ireland, which found it a useful exercise. The danger is that an organisation will concentrate on what it is good at and not see the gaps in the structure. The report is to provide some sort of a benchmark in that regard. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is proposing to use it in carrying out a review of a number of education and training boards and financial management capacity therein. We are setting out the standards that we will look to see demonstrated in ETBs but it will be some time next year before that happens.

Correspondence No. 1456 is from Mr. Martin O'Brien, chief executive, Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, dated 3 July 2018 in response to concerns raised by the committee regarding invoice redirection fraud. Mr. O'Brien informs the committee that a Garda investigation is ongoing and states that he expects to recover a significant part of the amount while its insurance should cover the remainder. We will note and publish that and ask for a detailed report at the end of September. We wish to be kept updated on that issue.

Correspondence No. 1463 is from Mr. John McCarthy, Secretary General, Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, in response to a committee request for further details in relation to evictions from local authority and Approved Housing Body, AHB, dwellings, which we will note and publish.

Correspondence No. 1465 is from Ms Brenda McVeigh, secretary to the Commissioner, Tax Appeals Commission, dated 29 June 2018, providing follow up information requested by the committee at our meeting on 28 June 2018. To get a response in 24 hours must be a record. The information includes a supplementary briefing note for the committee that outlines the commission’s request for resources and concerns it raised about the lack of resources in the period June 2017 to date and also an aged analysis of legacy appeals. We will note and publish this. It is clear from the response that the number of appeals going to the Tax Appeals Commission has gone from 174 in 2011 up to 400 in 2014 and 493 in 2015 and then 469. There has been a very significant rate of increase. It seems that those who provided the resources for this body did not anticipate that its very establishment would increase the number of appeals. It looks as though that was not taken into account.