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

Apologies have been received from Deputy Catherine Murphy. We are joined remotely by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, as a permanent witness. I welcome everyone online to the meeting. Due to the current situation with Covid-19 only the clerk, the support staff and I are in the committee room. Members are attending remotely from within the precincts of Leinster House. This is due to the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings members must be physically present within the confines of the place the Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House or the convention centre. I will ask members to confirm their location before contributing to ensure they are adhering to this constitutional requirement. I ask those in attendance to mute themselves when not contributing so we do not pick up background noise or feedback. I also ask them to use the "raise hand" feature when they wish to contribute and cancel it when they have finished. As usual, I ask people to keep mobile phones on silent or switched off.

Members are reminded of the provision in Standing Order 218 that the committee shall refrain from inquiring into the merits of a policy or policies of the Government or a Minister of the Government or the merits of the objective of such policies. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against any person outside the House or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

The business before us today is the minutes of previous meetings, accounts and statements, correspondence, the draft work programme and any other business. The first business is the minutes of meetings of 1 and 3 June, which have been circulated to members. Does any member wish to raise a matter in relation to the minutes? Are the minutes agreed? Agreed. As usual, the minutes will be published on the committee's web page.

The next matter is accounts and financial statements. Four sets of financial statements and accounts were laid before the Dáil between 14 and 18 June. These are now appearing on screen. They are from Dundalk Institute of Technology, the Private Security Authority, the National Asset Management Agency and Údarás na Gaeltachta. The Comptroller and Auditor General issued a clear audit opinion in relation to the accounts but our attention is drawn by him to certain matters in the accounts of Dundalk Institute of Technology and Údarás na Gaeltachta. I will ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to address the accounts and statements before opening the floor to members.