Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Good morning to Mr. McCarthy. I welcome Mr. Fraser. I will comment briefly on the decision to hold this meeting. I was not present at the previous meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts when the decision was made to have this hearing. Had I been present, I would have said that it stinks for us to make a decision to look at presidential expenditure the day before the closing date for nominations for the Presidency and the election. That said, the decision has been made democratically and I respect that.

From a procedural perspective, I note the references to the audit committee's chair being absent in 2016 and for a period of 22 weeks from the date on which the accounts were to be filed to the actual date of the filing of the accounts. Will Mr. McCarthy comment on those two issues?