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

I do not think Deputy Munster is with us yet. Regarding the inquiry taking more than a year, that is fair enough. It is a substantial undertaking in that it is addressing the contractual relationship of approximately 500 contractors, as RTÉ terms them. The issue concerns what is happening regarding those people who have been reclassified and what their situation is now in respect of having proper PRSI credits paid for them for the years during which they were wrongly classified in that regard and any other benefits they would have been due if they had been categorised as PAYE workers during that time. We will require an update on those aspects. Representatives from RTÉ are due in with us in our first sitting in January 2022, so we will look for that information then. Is everybody else happy with that item? Okay.

No. 957 is correspondence from Mr. Martin Whelan, head of public affairs and communications, National Treasury Management Agency, dated 6 December 2021, which provides further information as requested by the committee regarding the State Claims Agency, SCA. It includes responses to requests for information in relation to the outstanding financial liability in respect of cell sanitation in the Irish Prison Service; the outstanding financial liability in respect of An Garda Síochána active claims; and a progress update on open disclosure and any engagement the SCA is having with the legal profession to encourage mediated settlements, as opposed to court settlements. Is it agreed that we note and publish this item? Agreed. The only comment I have regarding this correspondence is that there are a considerable number of claims in this context. There are 2,399 active claims against the Prison Service and many of those probably concern cell sanitation. We should keep an eye on this matter because it involves a significant number of people and a certain amount of money. In addition, 150 staff members and 47 members of the public are also involved in those claims.

No. 959B is from Mr. Jim Breslin, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, dated 6 December 2021, and provides information requested by the committee regarding capital funding being withheld from the University of Limerick, UL. This arises from a matter we examined when we engaged with representatives of UL in June, namely the acquisition by the university of a site in Limerick city centre in 2019. It will be recalled that this concerns the old Dunnes Stores site. The Secretary General states that the funding has been withheld "pending assurances from [UL] in relation to capital management procedures". Several questions regarding this matter remained unanswered when we raised it with the representatives of UL, who stated that the matter was the subject of a review by KPMG. I propose that we note and publish this item and request a progress update from UL on the KPMG report. Our last update from UL on the matter was on 21 October 2021, in correspondence referenced as R0842. Is that agreed? Agreed. This item was flagged for discussion by Deputy Carthy.