Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms O'Reilly for her time today.

I was interested to hear about the Covid recovery fund and very interested to read the press statement from the European Court of Auditors, which stated:

Citizens will only trust new ways of EU funding if they can be sure that their money is being spent properly ... Currently, there is a gap in terms of the assurance the Commission can provide for the EU's main pandemic recovery fund and a lack of accountability at EU level.

There is that magic word "accountability".

My first question arises from the subject of bags of cash and so on. In her role as European Ombudsman, and because of the job she has to do, how is Ms O'Reilly received in the Parliament? Does she find that certain groups will work with her more or less? If she comes across something in one of her investigations in her role as ombudsman, can she refer it to the European Court of Justice, or is there a separate system in that regard?