Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will conclude. That is in order. The committee will want to review the discussion here today. If I am wrong on this, the committee can tell me. However my view, like in my opening comment, is that when witnesses are here, all questions and answers are through the Chair. There is no vetting by any member of another member's questions. The Chair has authority to make a ruling that, to put a question to an Accounting Officer, it comes through the Chair or say to an Accounting Officer that he or she will not answer that question. I have had to say it to Accounting Officers on previous occasions that a question will not be answered on the day. I have instructed Accounting Officers on previous occasions not to answer a question that a member may have raised but that I felt, as Chairman, was not appropriate.

I made the decision on the day as Chairperson, chairing the meeting on behalf of the committee. It was not the committee that was not putting your questions. It was me, as Chairman of the committee, acting on behalf of the committee. I used the reference I read out earlier in relation to witnesses as a parallel. It was not a direct comparison. It is an example to show that when we refer to the committee, making a statement about some evidence, which, in practice, it is done by the Chair on behalf of the committee. It is not all members of the committee have to agree. In practice, it means the Chair has to do it. If the Oireachtas’s instruction to every committee is that the Chair has no authority to do that unless the full committee makes a decision, that is fine. If that changes the rules for every Chair of every committee, that is fine. I will follow that rule.

In the meantime, the questions, as always, are put through the Chair. I took my decision as Chair not to allow those questions be put through me to the Accounting Officer. I made the decision and wanted those questions to be sent to the Garda Síochána, which is what I did. That is my position. We have both indicated our positions on it. I have no problem with some higher committee in this establishment ruling on these matters. It will not be a matter specific to the Committee of Public Accounts. It will be a matter relating to the role of all chairmen of all Oireachtas committees. If clarification is required, I welcome that. Whatever the outcome of that process is, every other committee Chair and I will take note of that decision.