John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In terms of the workings of the Committee of Public Accounts, I have seen and read the many reports over the years that have been sent to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. As for some of these reports on protecting taxpayers' money and getting greater efficiency in terms of the spend, I will not say they have been ignored because somebody obviously has read them but in terms of the extent of change demanded, very little change is seen in the mechanisms there to guard loss of money or efficiency. There are many examples over the years. How much input does a Minister have into those reports? In Mr. Moloney's case, it a question of the reports being read and that is the extent of it? I have not seen any major change in my time here on the Committee of Public Accounts or other committees that would lead me to believe there was a mechanism in place that fully looked at these reports with a view to making the changes that might be necessary.