Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A significant report with a recommendation was brought to the committee. One would imagine that in preparing any document for the governing authority, multiple offices would have been involved. If there were other offices involved in preparing the report, why did none of them ask the question about the requirement for multiple valuations? If only one office, the office of the chief operator, prepared the report, that is a significant item of fact we need to know. Our guests might come back to the committee in writing on that point. Who was involved in the preparation of the report that was presented to the governing authority? That is my first question.

My second question is about the governing authority itself. I am well aware that governing authorities are established by law and our guests do not prescribe them. There is no doubt but that they are an unwieldy tool. They are very large and do not allow for the kind of senior management-style board that many companies have. Ultimately, governing authorities are the responsible authorities and the governing authority in question signed off on the report. Regardless of what information was presented to them, the members of the governing authority made that decision. Is there a cultural issue on the governing authority that did not allow people to ask more probing questions? That is not to allocate blame. I am not aware of any change to the governing authority, nor am I aware of any changes to how discussions happen at governing authority meetings. There was an onus on everybody at that meeting, regardless of what information was presented to them, to have asked more probing questions. That needs to be examined.