Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Comptroller and Auditor General and will remark on the last matter. Technically, we are dealing with the 2017 accounts, which are quite a bit out of date at this stage and given the major transactions happened in 2018. The Comptroller and Auditor General has confirmed that the accounts have been audited and certified. They have recently been presented to the Minister's office but they require approval by Government before they can be published and laid. The witnesses have an advantage on us. They have their audited accounts for 2018 but we have not seen them. However, I do want to acknowledge that significant information about 2018 has been supplied and made available to us, either by the Department or Bord na gCon - we have received it anyway - to make sure that our discussion here today is more up to date than just purely historical. I want to acknowledge the extra information that we have received in advance of this meeting, which we appreciate.

I invite Mr. Dollard to make his opening statement.