Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We can take two routes. We can write to the Committee on Procedure, which is the body that we are being told to go through, or we can directly invite bodies to attend, but by taking the second route and notwithstanding what has been stated by the Comptroller and Auditor General, others and me, we might be presented with a situation where an official appearing before us tells us that he or she will discuss last year and the year before but will not discuss the here and now. However, it might be the here and now that we need to discuss. That is the problem.

How we approach this matter is a decision for the committee. One proposal, which I believe we accept, is that we write to the Dáil reform committee and the Committee on Procedure about making a change in the Standing Orders. There seem to be two views on the second proposal.

Deputy Verona Murphy has not spoken on this issue yet, so I will call her now.