Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, exactly. From our perspective, the matter is now closed. We will send on the correspondence. We will note and publish that.

The next item is No. 2327, from Paul Quinn, chief procurement officer, Office of Government Procurement, dated 18 July, providing a note requested by the committee regarding the Construction Contracts Act. This relates to a request for clarification in regard to a situation where the main contractor puts in a claim for costs associated with additional work carried out and we wished to find out where the subcontractor stood while the matter was awaiting approval. He has essentially said that there is no provision in the legislation in respect of that matter. He stated that the construction contract does not get into commercial arrangements on those types of issues between the main contractor and various subcontractors. It does not take into account all of the different commercial arrangements which parties may enter into but does set basic standards which are intended to regulate payments between them. Nor does it involve itself in the complexities which arise on a project but rather provides a framework within which parties on all tiers of the supply chain can engage to ensure the cashflow of those executing the works.

We asked about a specific point. There can be delays when there is a dispute between a main contractor and it was a question of where stands the subcontractor in the meantime. Essentially, he has said that they are at the mercy of what happens on a particular site. He said there is a framework but was not specific. We will note and publish that correspondence. It answers the query we raised.

The next item is No. 2328 from Derek Moran, Secretary General of the Department of Finance, dated 19 July, providing the note requested by the committee regarding the difference between national debt and general Government debt. I can state in one sense what that means, which is very good. People become confused. Mr. Moran stated that the general Government debt, which is a measure of total gross debt of the State compiled by EUROSTAT, does not have any netting of cash balances, whereas the national debt is the net debt incurred by the Exchequer after taking account of cash balances and other financial assets. General Government debt is the gross figure and when we refer to the national debt we are referring to the net amount, net of any cash balances. We know the NTMA has approximately €30 billion in cash balances. There is quite a difference.