Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I thank the Chairman. I saw his recent comments about the lack of forensic expertise in my office. I am satisfied we have the resources to do the work we do. My understanding of forensic auditing and forensic accounting is that they are to prepare a case for presentation in a court setting rather than in a Committee of Public Accounts setting. Where we take on a piece of work we have the resources to do it. If we need additional resources we have a budget line that allows us to contract in a forensic accountant or whatever. That would have to be in a situation where I felt the work they would do and the contribution they would make would be additional to what we have. Regarding whether we have sufficient resources to examine every issue that is of interest and might warrant public accountability, we could use more resources. However, my office is very conscious of the constraints on the public finances. Deliberately for the last number of years we have not wanted to be first to seek an increase in resources. I am satisfied we have the skills we need to do the work.