David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to the individual in question, I agree with Teachta Kelly that there are issues here. Where weaknesses in controls are identified, there is an obligation on an individual who is a senior civil servant to notify the Minister and that did not happen. That is something that we need to probe. We need to give this circular to the individual in advance of him appearing before the committee because a number of issues issue. The steering committee, which is a steering committee of the board and the Department, was made aware of issues. Those would have had to have been reported back to the board. The individual in question sat on the board but I do not think he sat on the steering committee. I know the Comptroller and Auditor General cannot comment on the matter. We need to be clear as to what meetings he attended. I assume they were the board meetings. We also need to be clear about what information was presented to him, as a board member. We have the minutes and we can go through them. This information would enable us to put questions to him fairly and he will be able to respond to them fairly, if he appears before us. We should give him this circular in advance of him doing so. I am confused as I thought we had agreed at the previous meeting that he would appear.