David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The way we were presented with the figures is very unsatisfactory. I had to contact the secretariat to figure out what exactly the figures meant. It is not the way to present figures to the Committee of Public Accounts. We sought the deficit year on year but what we received was a copy and paste of a chart from what I imagine is a set of accounts. It is not clear what exactly the figures mean. There is no breakdown of what they mean, even in respect of the institute cumulative position. Is the year-on-year deficit €2.4 million or €3.8 million? It is unclear.

We need to reply to the Accounting Officer to say it is unsatisfactory, and that we want a better breakdown of the figures and an explanation of why the deficit has increased year on year. In 2011, it was €2.4 million, if I am correct, although the Comptroller and Auditor General might extrapolate those figures. In his view, is it an acceptable way to present figures to the Committee of Public Accounts, given that we sought a breakdown of the deficit year on year but received only a chart with figures whose meaning is not obvious.