Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Public Accounts Committee

Business of Committee (Resumed)

9:00 am

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On procurement, it goes without saying we are meant to be looking at non-compliance, of which there are so many instances. We will come back to the issue. We would probably like to have a summary of the accounts of all of the bodies with procurement issues on a spreadsheet. It is an issue with which we must deal because we cannot hop on it every week and never do anything about it. It is little like getting organisations' financial reporting up to date, on which we have great progress in the past year or two. We must move on a topic such as this, as well as on everything else we must do.

Representatives of Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority, will appear before us shortly. Again, there is a clear audit opinion, but attention is drawn to expenditure where public procurement procedures were not full complied with.

The next item concerns Bord na gCon, in respect of which there is a clear audit opinion. There is a clear audit opinion in respect of Kingdom Greyhound Racing Company Limited. Obviously, we are dealing with a lot of bodies that are subsidiaries of Bord na gCon. There are clear accounts in respect of Cork Greyhound Racing Company Limited, Clonmel Racing Company Limited and Limerick Greyhound Racing Track Limited. Abergrove Limited, Bord na gCon's food and beverages operation, is a separate company, in respect of which there is a clear audit opinion. There is also a clear audit opinion in respect of Galway Greyhound Stadium Limited and Dublin Greyhound and Sports Association Limited. The latter company ceased trading in February 2017. Agreement was reached for the sale of Harold's Cross Greyhound Stadium for a sum of €23 million which, coincidentally, was sufficient to allow the company to discharge its residual liabilities. I think it was sold to the Department of Education and Skills. People in Dublin will be more familiar with the issue. Will there be a set of accounts for 2018 for that organisation?

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