Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are joined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, as a permanent witness to the committee. He is joined by Ruth Foley, deputy director of audit. We will have a private session in the afternoon to review a discussion document. I propose that we use a relatively short period to deal with correspondence and then proceed to our engagement with the HSE and the Department of Health. We have received apologies from Deputies Pat Deering and Alan Kelly. We are holding over the minutes and will come back to them shortly. The next item I want to get clearance from the committee in connection with is No. 3, a motion on the second periodic report relating to NAMA. We discussed this at the last meeting. It relates to the terminal surplus and possible consideration of NAMA's activities after its wind-down. We agreed that we have to put a formal motion to the Dáil to discuss this matter. The clerk circulated wording last Friday regarding our recommendation for a Dáil debate on the wind-down of NAMA. The motion is:

That Dáil Éireann notes the report of the Committee of Public Accounts entitled Periodic Report No.2, November- December 2017, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 28 March 2018; and, in particular, the Committee’s recommendations that the Dáil should debate- the utilisation of NAMA’s projected terminal surplus and

- the orderly wind down of NAMA or the possible consideration of NAMA for other specific purposes

It is in my name as Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts. Is it agreed to lay that before the Dáil? There will be a debate on it in the Dáil on a Thursday afternoon in the weeks ahead.