Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

We have been working very hard. We have 26 third level institutions. There has been a systemic problem in the sector. We have increased resources, and that was one of the things that I have highlighted in the report on the timeliness of financial statements.

We have made progress. For instance, already the Trinity College accounts for 2015-2016 have been certified so that within six months the whole process is completed. We got the financial statements and the audit was completed, the parallel audit by KPMG was completed and the whole lot done within six months. I am expecting to have the accounts from Maynooth also by the end of this month. It demonstrates that it can be done.

If the committee members want to look on the screen, there is a graphic from the report on the timeliness of financial statements that shows the universities. The white panel in the graphic is 12 months after the period of account and one can see that some of the financial statements do not come to us within 12 months. One can also see the whole process, from us receiving the accounts to the accounts being signed off. In relation to Trinity, it is done in a three-month period, and as I said, we have made progress even relative to that. We are working to bring them all forward but it will be a big ask to have the 26 of them done by September coming for the 2015-2016 period.