Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a good principle established here. We have been through this in a different guise, and it is something the Committee of Public Accounts should return to at a later date. The submission of accounts by various organisations, such as the education and training boards, ETBs and so on, was delayed in the past. However, section 38 and 39 organisations also had a poor record of submitting audited accounts to the HSE, and the HSE's former chief executive, Mr. Tony O'Brien, thanked the Committee on Public Accounts for putting the boot in on those delays. It allowed him go to every one of them and say that unless they got their accounts into the HSE in a timely manner their funding would be held up for the current year. Lo and behold, there was 100% compliance. There was a consequence for the boards. I propose that any time we suggest a sanction on an organisation for a corporate or cultural issue, or something that is under the board's remit, it should be directed at the board members and should not be taken out of the service that is provided. When a board is employed to do a job, where the members all get their couple of grand each year, if they do not do their job there should be consequences at board level. If the board sends down the right message through the chief executive, what will happen down the line is remarkable. It is a broader issue and we will return to it.