Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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This issue was mentioned at the last meeting. The Comptroller and Auditor General is familiar with the issue. I think there is agreement on the committee. A remark was made by Waterford IT on the return on investment for the State. What will have to be established by somebody is what was the investment by the State. It is a meaningless comment to make to us. It is gratuitous to tell us about the return on investment when nobody has an idea what the actual investment was by way of the incubation unit, staff resources, facilities and equipment provided by the taxpayer in Waterford, direct grants from the HEA, grants, which we are aware of, probably from Enterprise Ireland, possibly training grants from European taxpayers and possibly a whole lot more. We are in a position where we have no concept of what the State investment was for the relative shareholding it got at the end of the day. We ultimately have to get to the bottom to know the State's investment. The suggestion is that it is a broad issue in all of the colleges but the FeedHenry company is the one that has come to light. We cannot direct the Comptroller and Auditor General to do a report but we can ask him to consider it. He might consider it or give us his observations on it. At this stage, we cannot pin him down for a definite answer. One way or the other, the Committee of Public Accounts will not move away from this topic.