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

Okay. Moving to correspondence, as previously agreed, items not flagged for discussion at this meeting will continue to be dealt with in accordance with the proposed actions that have been circulated, and decisions taken by the committee in respect of correspondence are recorded in the minutes of our meetings and published on the web page. The first category of correspondence under which members have flagged items for discussion is B, correspondence from Accounting Officers and-or Ministers and follow-up to meetings of the committee.

No. 1017B is correspondence from Ms Oonagh McPhillips, Secretary General of the Department of Justice, dated 20 January 2022. It provides further information requested by the committee in respect of non-compliant procurement in the Irish Prison Service. The Secretary General of the Department is the Accounting Officer for the Department and the Prison Service. The initial response we received, No. R0932, contained very little detail on the reasons for the non-compliance and this is a more thorough response. It is proposed to note and flag the item. Is that agreed? Agreed. It has been flagged by Deputy Catherine Murphy.