John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The first matter on the agenda is the minutes of the meeting of 3 October 2013. Are the minutes agreed? Agreed. Two issues arise from the minutes. A committee delegation will visit Ethiopia at the end of November. Full details of the programme and the cost of sending the delegation will be published. The details, which are being finalised by Irish Aid in consultation with the committee, will be published on the website as soon as they become available.

The second issue relates to our discussion in private session last week about making submissions relating to our forthcoming examination of chapter 7 of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General which deals with the penalty points system. At last week's meeting, we discussed the implications of taking such submissions and the need to ensure any submissions relate solely to the issues in the report. In that regard, the committee agreed that such submissions would be sent directly to the parliamentary legal adviser as the committee has discretion to return the documents. Having forwarded such submissions, they would subsequently be the subject of parliamentary privilege. I have been given documentation on penalty points which I will hand over to our legal adviser. We will await her advice as to what we should do with these documents. This approach is in accordance with the agreement reached by the committee last week.

We have received correspondence since the meeting of Thursday, 3 October 2013 from Accounting Officers and Ministers. No. 3A.1 is correspondence dated 27 June 2013 from Mr. Matthew Elderfield, deputy Governor, financial regulation, Central Bank of Ireland, in which he provides additional information requested by the committee at its meeting of 13 June 2013.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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When was the correspondence received?

Clerk to the Committee:

It is addressed to the Chairman and dated 27 June. It has been in Leinster House for some time but the committee first received it last week. I apologise for the delay.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Mr. Elderfield is no longer the deputy Governor of the Central Bank, yet the committee has received correspondence from him subsequent to his departure from that post. It appears the letter was received in October.

Clerk to the Committee:

The letter, which was addressed to the Chairman, was received during the summer recess and the committee was not aware of it.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It was received.

Clerk to the Committee:

Yes. It was only when we followed up on the correspondence this week that we discovered it had been sent and we obtained copies of it. I apologise for that.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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That is fine.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We shall proceed with the documents that relate to today's meeting. No. 3C.1 is correspondence received on 4 October 2013 from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General, Department of Education and Skills, which contains briefing material from the Department and Higher Education Authority on matters to be considered at today's meeting. The correspondence is to be noted and published. No. 3C.2 is correspondence received on 4 October 2013 from Mr. Ó Foghlú providing additional briefing material on matters to be considered at today's meeting, namely, the Waterford Institute of Technology report to the Minister for Education and Skills of October 2013. It is to be noted and published.

No. 3C.3 is correspondence received on 8 October 2013 from Dr. Ruairdhrí Neavyn, President, Waterford Institute of Technology regarding his opening statement. Reports, statements and accounts received since the meeting of 3 October 2013 are listed. If any issues arise, members may raise them now or subsequently with the clerk to the committee.

No. 5. is the work programme. Deputies will note that we have a private meeting on 24 October on the bank stabilisation report and some other housekeeping matters. The committee will not meet the following week but will meet representatives of Bord na gCon in the week thereafter.

Do members have any other business?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is not clear from the work programme when representatives of the Health Service Executive are due to appear before the committee.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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They will appear on 14 November.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I bring to the attention of the committee a serious issue on which I have been endeavouring to obtain an answer from the HSE for the entire summer. An e-mail I sent to the chief financial officer of the HSE at 10.32 p.m. on 21 August remains unanswered. Its subject was the erroneous decision to apply the terms of the Haddington Road agreement to Sunbeam House Services, a disability service provider in my constituency. I understand this issue is not confined to my constituency, however. The HSE was supposed to apply the provisions of the Haddington Road agreement to disability service providers, meaning their budgets were to be reduced by the percentage applied under the agreement. There is substantial evidence in the case of my constituency and a number of other constituencies that the HSE has reduced funding for disability service providers by a higher amount. Not only does this affect staff pay and working conditions, as intended, but transport services have also ceased in a number of a disability service providers and other services have been reduced. As a public representative, I corresponded with the chief financial officer on 21 August last seeking comment on this issues, which affects people with a disability daily. That I have not been shown the courtesy of a reply almost two months later is appalling.

The issue I raised with the chief executive officer has been covered extensively in terms of its effects on people with a disability. I ask that the committee put the HSE on notice that we wish to discuss with it the manner in which it is applying the Haddington Road agreement to disability service providers. When we discussed this issue last week with the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr. Watt, we were informed that a commitment was made in the talks on the new public sector agreement to make savings of €150 million. A couple of weeks later, the chief financial officer of the HSE issued a circular to his subordinates stating the organisation would only save €104 million. Either through incompetence or for much more sinister reasons, disability groups are paying a heavy price through reduced services. I ask that we put the HSE on notice that the committee intends having a serious discussion with its representatives on the erroneous manner in which the Haddington Road agreement is being applied in the health service.

On Saturday, the Daily Mail published a three page story, which must have been based on a leak, on a HSE audit report into another disability group in my constituency. Serious issues arise as a result of this report. First, who in the HSE is leaking information on the expenditure of taxpayers' money? Second, the committee must discuss with the HSE what checks and balances are in place for the expenditure of millions of euro through third parties. Obtaining answers from HSE representatives who appear before this committee is like pulling teeth. As a public representative and member of this committee, I contacted the chief financial officer of the HSE on an issue of great importance and did not even receive the courtesy of a response. I ask for the assistance of the committee in obtaining an answer.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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With the agreement of members, we can include the issue raised by the Deputy on the agenda for the meeting with the HSE.

We can notify the HSE that at the meeting on 14 November we will be discussing Chapter 22, eligibility for medical cards, and also the matter the Deputy raised, with some other matters relative to the HSE budget. We can put it to it in such general terms, if that is what the committee agrees to. We will also send it a transcript of today's meeting at which the Deputy has raised the matter and ask it to be prepared for a general discussion on the budget and the specific issue the Deputy has raised. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Can we agree the agenda for Thursday, 17 October? We have two meetings scheduled for that day. At 10 a.m. we will meet representatives of Forfás to examine its annual accounts and at noon we will meet representatives of Ordnance Survey Ireland to examine its annual accounts.

A number of issues were raised at previous meetings of the committee at which the Accounting Officer was to submit information of one kind or another. The Valuation Office, for example, was to submit information on its tribunal of appeal, including its membership and costs. That has not happened. There are a number of other cases we should review in the context of our minutes to ensure any outstanding information - I believe there is a lot - is provided for us forthwith because those meetings are now quite dated.