Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 118 seeks to amend the provision in section 17(2) to provide that the CEO, when appearing before the Committee of Public Accounts, appears as an Accounting Officer. I am opposing this amendment, as the subsection is in line with the guidelines contained in the code of practice for the governance of State bodies. As drafted, the subsection provides that, when appearing before the Committee of Public Accounts, the CEO appears as an accountable person and not as an Accounting Officer. The term "Accounting Officer" is normally applied to the Secretary General of a Department with a departmental Vote. The code provides that, for State bodies audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, a CEO can appear as an accountable person at the Committee of Public Accounts. As the accounts of the LDA are to be subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General under section 45, it follows that the CEO will appear as an accountable person and not as an Accounting Officer.

Amendment No. 119 and 121 seek to delete section 17(3) and section 18(8), which provide that the chief executive, when giving evidence to an Oireachtas committee, shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any Government policy. I am opposed to these amendments, as these are standard provisions included in the legislation of numerous State bodies. This provision is required to ensure that statements made by the CEO of the LDA or another accountable person at an Oireachtas committee are within the remit of the committee. It is standard practice.

Amendments Nos. 120 and 122 are technical amendments to section 18. For the avoidance of doubt, they provide that, where the CEO is appearing before an Oireachtas committee, he or she will give an account of the administration of the LDA and subsidiary designated activity companies, DACs. It was always the intention of this legislation when it was being drafted that references to the LDA would also refer to a subsidiary DAC, but for the avoidance of doubt, I am tabling these amendments. It is important that the LDA and its subsidiaries be transparent in their operations. These amendments will help ensure that.