Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will finish on the mess issue.

We will write to the Minister about it, if the committee agrees. The milk issue bears out the point I have raised. I was accused by the previous Secretary General of not having tested things in advance. We only raise issues if people raise them with us. The milk issue proves that it could happen, and indeed did happen in at least one instance. Some years ago, I raised multiple instances of cross-subsidisation between prison stores and mess stores. We have new controls now, but we have no accounts. After our meeting in 2019, we got a list of balances of accounts and nothing more.

The memorandum issued by the Irish Prison Officers Association, IPOA, seeking approval for the establishment of messes states that 40% of staff spend €10.61 per day. I will quote the IPOA's figures. The State provides €1.4 million of subsidies for staff, equipment, heat, light, etc., and the system works very well. If €10.61 was spent per day by 470 staff members, a substantial amount of money would be raised every day throughout the eight prisons. If we multiply that by 365 and then by seven we arrive at a figure of several millions. I note that these were all cash transactions. I join Deputy Munster in suggesting that we get an external investigator to look through those seven years' figures to ensure the milk issue was a once-off. I hope that would be supported by the Irish Prison Service. In case the IPOA is watching, I want to make it absolutely clear that I am totally in favour of the appropriate supports for hard-working prison officers. Their job is a very difficult one. There is probably an argument for them to be fed and watered free of charge given the dangers of their job. It is not about those facilities. It is about the appropriate oversight of many millions of euro of subsidy during that seven-year period, for which there are effectively no records.

Yesterday, I raised the issue of protected disclosures and the terms of reference of external investigations. Ms McPhillips noted that the terms of reference are prescribed under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and are not in her Department's remit. The witnesses were to check this. What is the situation?