Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with Deputy Connolly. What we did today was good for democracy. It cleared the air. Maybe we should have done it long ago in view of the timing. The people who are trying to cast aspersions on what we have done and make it political are wrong.

There are question marks over this matter. The Comptroller and Auditor General seems to be the main person responsible even though his role is only as auditor. Mr. Fraser has tried to pass the buck to him a few times. There is also the audit committee in the Áras. The question of who is responsible needs to be established. With other audits, the Comptroller and Auditor General makes a report and we ask questions based on what he lays before us, but there seems to be some crisscrossing today. That is something that we should take from our meeting.

I looked up the reason the Committee of Public Accounts exists, that being, the three Es and two Ps. We investigate whether something has been done economically, efficiently and effectively in line with procedures and privileges. No one seems to have answered Deputy MacSharry's question on the €317,000 that seems to have appeared from out of the blue. I knew nothing about it until he mentioned it, but no one present is responsible for it or even able to throw any light on why it was paid. The Comptroller and Auditor General stated that it was not paid out of the Vote, but under a 1997 Act. That and what the money is for need to be clarified. It is €317,000 of taxpayers' money. The question on why and how it was spent must be answered within a short time. Let us know why it was spent so that the public in general and the presidential candidates - the nomination process closes tomorrow - can know what the €317,000 entailed and on what grounds it was spent. This question needs to be answered sooner rather than later.