John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We will now begin in public session. The minutes of the meeting of 20 June 2013 have not been finalised. They will form part of our agenda for the next meeting. Discussion of matters arising from the minutes does not apply until they are provided. Item No. 3 is correspondence received since our meeting on Thursday, 20 June 2013.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I raised an issue last week about the Valuation Office. The Chairman offered to consider inviting the office to appear before the committee. Can we make that request as soon as possible?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, we are doing that. When did the Deputy have in mind for this meeting? I would like to know what kind of pressure we are under.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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There is a major issue among businesses in my constituency with regard to valuations being made by the Valuation Office. It is clear that many will go out of business. This is relevant to the work of this committee and the taxpayer because of the massive amounts of commercial rates being written off and the massive arrears in local authorities, which are going up. There is an association between what the Valuation Office is doing and how much money is effectively not being collected. Issues arise from the general administration of the Valuation Office and how it goes about its business. There is a loss to the taxpayer. We need to examine this because economic times have changed and some say it is not going to get better any time soon. We need to consider the effect the valuations being put on businesses and the ratings involved are having on business. Can we invite the representatives of the Valuation Office on that basis as soon as possible?

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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I support that request and would be interested to see the difference in impact in counties in which the new system has come in compared to the old system. I know that will not give a full picture because they were different economic times, but it is important to have a decent system of commercial rates and it is important that businesses can survive.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We will ask the Valuation Office to come in at the earliest possible date. Some of those matters might be taken up in a general way today with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Dowds has raised the other big issue in this respect, which is the introduction of the Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012. This completely changes the way in which businesses are assessed. We are moving towards a system of self-assessment and the Valuation Office will have views on that and when and whether it should be expedited through the Government. What will it mean to have two separate systems of assessment once that Bill is enacted and how will their administration work, in some cases in two different parts of the country? All of those issues need to be teased out with the Valuation Office.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We will set an early date for that meeting.

No. 3B.1 is correspondence dated 19 June 2013 from Ms Clare McGrath, chairman of the Office of Public Works, concerning an issue previously raised by Eugene Mitchell, Ballinasloe, County Galway regarding flood risk. This is to be noted and a copy forwarded to Mr. Mitchell.

No. 3B.2 is correspondence dated 20 June 2013 from William Treacy, Ballybrophy, County Laois, concerning previous correspondence with the Committee on Public Accounts regarding the welfare of horses. This is to be noted.

No. 3B.3 is correspondence dated 11 June 2013 from Mrs Barbara Bradley, Nurney, County Carlow, forwarding correspondence with An Taoiseach regarding Kilkenny College. This is to be noted. We have had previous correspondence from Mrs Bradley on this issue. It is not a matter for the PAC and as we are only being copied with the correspondence, we do not have to take further action on it. We did have previous correspondence with her and issued a reply. Did we get a reply to that?

Clerk to the Committee:

We were copied on a direct reply.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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No. 3B.4 is correspondence dated 12 June 2013 from Mr. Noel Wardick, Clontarf, Dublin 3, forwarding correspondence with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Deputy Alan Shatter, regarding the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board. This is to be noted. We are being copied on this and we dealt with the Irish Red Cross last year. No action is required on the committee's part in respect of this matter.

No. 3B.5 is correspondence dated 17 June 2013 from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General, Department of Education and Skills, concerning an issue previously raised by Ms Brenda Farrell regarding a new site for Gaelscoil an Inbhir Mhóir. This is to be noted and a copy forwarded to Ms Farrell.

No. 3B.6 is correspondence dated 24 June 2013 from Michael J. Staines and Company Solicitors, concerning an invitation to Mr. Seán Fitzpatrick to appear before the committee in connection with the committee's examination of Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General. This is to be noted. This correspondence was dealt with at our private meeting yesterday.

No. 3B.7 is correspondence, dated 14 June 2013, from Deputy David Stanton, Chairman of the Working Group of Committee Chairmen, concerning the draft protocol for persons giving evidence to Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is to be noted. This correspondence was dealt with at our private meeting yesterday. Members were asked, if they have views on this matter, to respond to the clerk to the committee. It does affect some of the work of the committee so I ask members to read it.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Regarding the correspondence from Deputy Stanton, the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence, we should send him a transcript of what Matthew Elderfield said at this committee a couple of weeks ago to see if any issues arise that his committee can examine too, just as a matter of course.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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That is a good idea. Agreed.

I will move on to documents relating to today's meeting. No. 3C.1 is correspondence received on 20 June 2013 from Ms Geraldine Tallon, Secretary General, Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, enclosing a briefing paper on matters to be considered at today's meeting. This is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.2 is correspondence received on 20 June 2013 from Ms Laura Burke, director general of the Environmental Protection Agency, enclosing a briefing paper on matters to be considered at today's meeting. This is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.3 is correspondence received on 25 June 2013 from Ms Laura Burke, director general of the Environmental Protection Agency, enclosing her opening statement. This is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.4 is correspondence received on 26 June 2013 from Ms Geraldine Tallon, Secretary General, Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, enclosing her opening statement. This is to be noted and published.

I have a list of reports, statements, and accounts received since our meeting of 20 June 2013, from No. 4.1 to No. 4.8. Is there any matter that members wish to raise with regard to those documents?

We will not deal with the work programme.

Clerk to the Committee:

Nest Thursday we are dealing with FÁS, the national training fund and the European globalisation fund. Much of it concerns training and preparing people for employment.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Is the agreed? Agreed.

We will agree the agenda for the meeting on Thursday, 4 July, which will be the Department of Education and Skills, FÁS and a representative of the Department of Social Protection. The agenda for the meeting will consist of the 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, chapter 17 - European globalisation fund, FÁS financial statements 2011 and the national training fund. Is that agreed? Agreed.