Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It probably ties in with my earlier comment about broader lessons needing to be learned rather than trying to narrow the focus in that regard to one section in one Department. People like to keep things in silos as if they have nothing to do with the rest of us. This has everything to do with every Department that spends taxpayers' money. This is a broad matter and we will come back to it.

No. 2434 is correspondence from Mr. Mark Ferguson, director general, Science Foundation Ireland, dated 8 October 2019, responding to our request for information regarding the laying before the Houses of the Oireachtas of the accounts and financial statements of Science Foundation Ireland. We were concerned about the late arrival of these accounts. Mr. Ferguson advises that he has referred our query to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, which is responsible for laying the accounts before the Oireachtas and they will let us know the position. I wish to let people know that we are continuing to follow up on this. The Comptroller and Auditor General has indicated separately that in the year to date there has been a continued improvement in parties submitting their accounts for audit within three months of the year end. We have made that a little part of our mission. We will note and publish this item.

No. 2436 is correspondence from Mr. Gerard Dollard, chief executive officer, Irish Greyhound Board, dated 7 October 2019, providing information requested by the committee at our meeting on 19 September. I will detail the types of matters included. They comprise details of animal welfare cases and the number of inspections of kennels, at approximately 500 per year. He lists catering, which was outsourced, and he was asked about a separate care fund established by the Irish Greyhound Board for greyhounds retired from racing. There was a question about the rehoming organisations for greyhounds and the grants given to various organisations. These are quite small, with several at €3,000, although there are one or two bigger examples. They are not major sums. He also dealt with the foster care process. It is good to know about this.

Mr. Dollard also dealt with the breakdown of consultancy fees for 2017 because the issue was raised at our meeting. The €663,000 paid by the organisation in one year for those services is phenomenal. Legal consultancy fees amounted to €138,000, taxation and financial advice amounted to €12,500 but there also different reviews taking in strategic and organisational restructuring totalling €227,000. That comprised work by Preferred Results at €130,000, Tandem Consulting at €12,000, Professor Dermot Duff at €4,800 and Power Economics Limited at €6,690. We made the point here that there appeared to be four consultants examining the organisational structure within a relatively short period. It defies logic to an extent. There is also mention of public relations and marketing consultancy, as well as pensions and fees management and human resources consultancy fees. The four different consultants involved with strategic and organisational restructuring being paid in one year seems extraordinary, and that is why we highlighted the matter.

We asked for details of travel expenses as they were not provided on the day. The vast majority of people, or almost 90%, get less than €5,000 and they have to travel to race meetings all over the country. That is not unreasonable. We asked about the spend on welfare and the information is included. There is also information on the impairment review summary for 2018, specifically asset and capital grant impairment. It is quite technical. There is also a section on organisational restructuring, which has some redaction as various individuals are mentioned. Generally, it is a comprehensive reply.