Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Is that agreed? Agreed. I remind members that earlier we had said that the committee would not publish that report, which was received, in case it prejudices anything or in case we attach parliamentary privilege to a particular document. That attached correspondence will not be published.

No. 2128B from Mr. Martin O'Brien, the chief executive of the Louth Meath Education and Training Board, ETB, provides an update on the invoice redirection fraud, which we had been monitoring. Mr. O'Brien advises that the ETB’s insurers, Irish Public Bodies, are covering the loss in full and that no loss is therefore incurred by the ETB. I put it to the committee that ultimately the ETB would receive its funding from the local authorities. All the funds paid out by the ETBs in such cases come from premiums paid to Irish Public Bodies, which is fully funded by the Irish taxpayer. It is coming out through that bank account rather than the Louth Meath ETB. I wanted to make the point that Irish Public Bodies is not a private insurance company coughing up. It is a mutual company. Mr. O'Brien has asked for the committee's patience until the matter is brought to a conclusion. We will note and publish this correspondence in the meantime.

No. 2129B from Mr. Mark Griffin, Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, provides follow-up information requested in relation to the metropolitan area networks and the national broadband plan. The committee has discussed this and will incorporate all this information into our report as soon as possible when we come back to dealing with our report on broadband, which also specifically deals with the metropolitan area networks.

Is it agreed that we will note and publish this correspondence? Agreed.

No. 2130B is correspondence from the director-general of RTÉ, Ms Dee Forbes, providing an update regarding the review of the 157 contracts highlighted as at high or medium risk of having attributes akin to employment. This was a recommendation in the Eversheds Sutherland report. Ms Forbes expects the review to be completed in the second half of this year and advises that RTÉ has developed a revised policy guideline regarding the engagement of contractors. The director-general gives an undertaking to keep the committee updated on the matter. Is it agreed to note and publish the correspondence?