Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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They want to discuss the long-term movement of Government accounts from a cash-based accounting system to an accrual accounting system, as is the norm in the private and commercial sector. They will ask us to make an input to the discussion. I ask members to allow me to use my discretion, as Chairman, go give my views on behalf of the committee. Staff from the secretariat will accompany me to the meeting and will report back.

There is no single national State balance sheet. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, will make his own point. I believe the Estimates should be cleared before the beginning of each year, not months into the year. I will raise the issue of what is on the State balance sheet, the various semi-State bodies, the universities, the section 38 entities and companies which receive more than 50% of their funding from the public purse but may not be on the State balance sheet. I also want to raise the issue of accounting for public private partnerships. I will also raise the issue of what I describe as contingent liabilities, medical negligence and the accounting policies of the HSE, the biggest State organisation. Some of these policies are set down by the Minister in legislation and do not fully comply with international accounting standards. We exclude contingent liabilities. I intend raising the issue of agencies such as NAMA, which are not on the State balance sheet. I will raise these issues to have them taken into consideration.

The final issue is contingent assets. There is money out there that the State does not collect. We all hear about the money the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection does not collect from people who - for example - have received a week's dole payment they should not have received. We hear nothing at all about employers who owe money for redundancy refunds. The State does not have a mechanism to account for that. The Department does not have a contingent assets section to deal with the non-principal private residence charge. If someone wants to sell a house ten years from now, the Government will be happy to take the €7,000 then, but the money is due now. There is no mechanism to know what is due. I will raise those types of issues.