Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Let me clarify, since Deputy Deasy has raised this. I have made the point and corrected my position on this. The Secretary General has refused to come before this committee on any of the five, I believe, or possibly six dates on which we said we could accommodate him. I made it clear that there was a breakthrough with the letter last night. I believe it was in response to the letter I issued and the fact that Mr. Watt had acknowledged that I made a suggestion that we would take this course of action regarding Government business. I have acknowledged there is a breakthrough but it is deeply conditional and Mr. Watt still has not accepted any of the dates the committee has proposed. That said, we had moved to a position where we were about to resolve this. That is what this was about, and that is what the clerk, the Chairman and the members of the committee who were involved in this recently wanted to do. This is not just about this issue; this is about precedent and ensuring that a Secretary General who is the Accounting Officer for an Oireachtas committee, regardless of whether it is the health committee, the agriculture committee or the finance committee, appear before the committee within a reasonable time if asked to by that committee. That is what this is about. It is bigger than the issue at hand. I believe we were finding a way forward and that we could move on and deal with the Estimates, which I do not think will take that much time. I propose that we go into private session and agree a number of dates that we can relay to the Secretary General and the Minister so as to ensure that this is resolved and that that meeting can be facilitated as soon as possible.