John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Are the minutes of the meeting of 20 December 2012 agreed? Agreed. Are there any matters arising from the minutes? No.

On correspondence received since the meeting on Thursday, 20 December 2012, No. 3A is correspondence from Accounting Officers. Correspondence received on 5 December 2012, from Ms Geraldine Tallon, Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, regarding note requested on the outcome of the review of the Local Government Audit Service and its possible merger with the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. I note from the correspondence that decision was made prior to the report being published. We might ask Ms Tallon for a copy of that report from the group so that we can study the background to the decision or the work that it was undertaking. We will write to her in that regard.

Correspondence, dated 9 December 2012, from Mr. Andy Harkness, secretary and director of audit at the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, regarding providing updated information on the accountability for State funding allocated to the CIE group of companies, is to be noted and published. The matter is relevant to next week's meeting with the National Transport Authority. Deputy Ross raised issues on that and we must make sure that he is aware of it.

No. 3A.3, correspondence dated 21 December 2012 from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, providing an update to the committee regarding Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, is to be noted an published. That correspondence relates to the inspector who was appointed to look at the companies involved with WIT. We must await the outcome of that report before we call back in WIT. The report is expected in the first quarter of this year. As soon as it is available to us,-----