Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I intended to propose that, aside from the minutes, we move straight to the work programme, which includes those urgent items. There are three items that could be dealt with next week. One is the issue of Vote 1 - President's Establishment, which is very time sensitive with an election around the corner. The second item is the issue of CervicalCheck, on which there is correspondence with which we need to deal this morning. The third item is an invitation from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, to the PAC and several other Oireachtas committees and Departments to talk about government accounting. We will come to that. They propose a meeting next Wednesday morning. A representative delegation from the committee will meet the OECD. Those three items have to be dealt with immediately. I just want to clear the minutes first. Are the minutes of 12 July 2018 agreed with no matters arising? Agreed.

We turn back now to the work programme. There are three time sensitive issues on the work programme. I have a note on the file that we can note and publish on the request to discuss Vote 1, which is expenditure on the President's Establishment reported in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report every year. I have received a lot of requests as Chairman for that to be considered. I propose we consider it, as people have said it is not available under freedom of information but is within the remit of the Committee of Public Accounts. If the committee were seen to not want to discuss the matter, it might raise even more significant questions than any questions we might get answered if we had a discussion. In view of the fact that nominations close next Wednesday, next Tuesday is the last possible day on which we can go there. I would not be comfortable having a meeting on the issue after the close of nominations at all. I do not think anyone would want to be here two weeks before an election campaign discussing the matter. If we are to do it, we have to get it out of the way promptly.

Strictly, it will be the Accounting Officer only in relation to expenditure. I would not allow any question to be directed involving the President. The President is not answerable to the House, which is a long-standing principle that we will honour entirely. If anyone asks a question about what the President did or did not do, I will rule it out of order. The Accounting Officer will be here to answer and Mr. Seamus McCarthy has published his report from the previous year. The most recent report will not be out until next week. As such, we will have to go with the most up-to-date information we have. The secretariat was in touch with Mr. Martin Fraser, the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, who is the Accounting Officer. We would invite him. There is a letter from him on file in which he raises some points and which we can note, publish and put up on screen. It is No. 1557. We can deal with the those points now.