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

Given the figures GSOC has supplied, I can see how it is overworked if it has only 40 investigators and it is dealing with that number of cases in any given year, namely, 572 criminal investigations and 150 disciplinary cases. That is a very substantial number. We will await the clarification from Mr. McCarthy on the 2020 audit and make a decision on it then. Is that agreed? Agreed.

No. 644B is from Mr. Brendan Gleeson, Secretary General, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, dated 11 June 2021 providing information requested by the committee arising from our meeting of 20 April 2021 with the Department. We considered the substantive response, No. 592B, at our meeting of 25 May.

The item of correspondence before us today provides a correction in respect of the previous correspondence. In relation to the Land Development Agency, LDA, the original correspondence indicated that the Department did not offer non-agricultural lands to the LDA but this item sets out significant engagement with the LDA in relation to property vested in the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, including former Land Commission Lands. The list has been provided to the committee.

The correspondence also addresses the administrative inquiry conducted by the EU Commission into Ireland’s capacity to apply the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy, the findings of which were communicated to Ireland last December. The Commission deemed the Irish control and sanctioning system unsatisfactory and required that Ireland implement a number of remedial measures. The proposed action is note and publish the correspondence.

Deputy Carthy has flagged the matter for discussion. Does he wish to speak on it?