John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We should put on the pressure and make this clear, because what gets audited gets done. If we get the issues sorted and if the Comptroller and Auditor General gets his work sorted, that means we will have greater scrutiny of the expenditure of public moneys.

We have witnesses waiting and do not wish to delay further, but I will point out one issue. The Comptroller and Auditor General commented on the difficulty of getting information. A letter we have here from a Secretary General raises a number of questions for us, but I will just give a headline regarding the information sought -the amount spent on design team fees. Not a single figure is mentioned. It is beyond me how a paragraph or two on that issue can be created without mentioning fees or figures. Another headline question regards the ongoing rental cost, but no figure is mentioned in the response. There is no mention of a figure either in regard to the need for a school building.

It is all just text and that is not what we want. We want a factual response with figures so we can do our jobs. We will come back to this next week and I will ask the clerk to draft a letter, including a transcript of this meeting, to the different agencies and Departments.