Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Grand. I gave a commitment that I, as Chairman, would arrange to meet him in the new year. We are not proposing that the person meet the full committee. We will put that arrangement in place.

No. 1823C is from Professor Mey in the University of Limerick providing information regarding an in-house psychiatrist at the University of Limerick. We will note that. It is not for publication.

No. 1824C is from Mr. Mark Rea, secretary, Northern Ireland Standardbred Association, requesting the committee to make inquiries regarding the monitoring of State funding to the Irish Harness Racing Association. I propose to forward the correspondence to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for a response.

No. 1825C is from an individual who has undertaken research relating to the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. I propose we write to the individual to thank her for her offer to meet us. We may make further contact at some point.

No. 1826C, dated 27 November 2018, is from an individual who has provided some observations regarding the University of Limerick, UL. We will note this item and it may inform our engagement with UL on 24 January 2019. Is that agreed? Agreed.

No. 1827C is from an individual who has copied the committee on a letter to the HEA regarding the UL. There is no specific request to the committee so we will note this.

No. 1831C is from Deputy Catherine Murphy. We will consider this as part of our work programme regarding the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board. We note it.

The final item, No. 1832C, is from Deputy David Cullinane proposing a number of questions for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. We agree to requesting the Department to provide this information. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We will hold over the next item, which is the 15 accounts and statements for review, for the next day as we wish to move on.

We will agree not to have a long discussion on the work programme. We might have a longer discussion on it on the next day. The work programme is up on the screen so we can get things moving in the meantime and so members are clear on it. Today we are meeting officials from the Department of Justice and Equality and the Irish Prison Service. At 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday next we will have a private meeting with specific staff members or former staff members who have made protected disclosures or raised particular matters relating to UL. It is not our main meeting of the week. It will not be a long meeting and it will take place over at lunchtime. Next Thursday, 21 January, we have report No. 103 from the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report on the UL and the Institute of Technology Sligo regarding the remuneration of certain senior staff. We will have an update on the Thorn report and a special report, No. 104, from the Comptroller and Auditor General on Waterford Institute of Technology regarding disposal of intellectual property in FeedHenry. We will have witnesses from Waterford Institute of Technology, the Institute of Technology Sligo, University of Limerick, the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Skills.

With regard to 31 January, before the summer recess last year, Deputy Catherine Murphy had written us a letter and I suggested that we might invite members of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board to discuss the overrun and the fact that they do not appear to know how to prepare a tender. They have obviously entered into many commitments and I suggest that we examine the board's most recent financial statements to see how it is running the organisation. Members of the board appeared before the health committee yesterday but I was not aware of that when I suggested putting this on the agenda. We will try not to duplicate what happened in the health committee so we might have to look at what it did. With a €1.7 billion investment, it would do no harm to have a second pair of eyes look at it without specifically duplicating or repeating what happened in the health committee.

It would be in the context of the 2017 financial statements. The Taoiseach stated in the Dáil that the Committee of Public Accounts should examine this issue. He has clarified that he intended to refer to the Joint Committee on Health.