Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry Deputy. This has been going on for 16 years. I want to say to the Accounting Officer that it says something about how the Department of Education and Skills follows up issues relating to taxpayers' money. I hope it does not have broader implications across the public service. As a result of our previous meeting, the committee asked for a breakdown report by report. On 23 July, Mr. Ó Foghlú wrote to us with a detailed breakdown. He gave us those commitments, we did not ask him to do so. In respect of each of the outstanding properties, we asked him to provide a breakdown as to the position at the end of June 2018 and the timescale for completion. That letter was dated 23 July. I am referring to the commitments he voluntarily gave last June. Mr. Ó Foghlú outlined which items would be completed by the end of September. We gave him further time. At the end of September, we asked him how he had got on in respect of the commitments he gave to the committee in writing in June.

I will now outline the current situation. I have the letter Mr. Ó Foghlú sent to the committee in June. The heading is "Properties not fully and finally completed under the 2002 agreement". We are discussing the 2002 agreement. Mr. Ó Foghlú told us in July that the estimated date for completion regarding the property at Waterpark, Newtown Road, County Waterford, was the end of September. That was his commitment. Today, he states that the estimated timeframe has moved to the second quarter of 2019. Not only did he not meet the commitment he gave to us for the end of September, in his most recent letter he has moved the completion date out by nine months to the end of next June. That is unacceptable.

The next property Mr. Ó Foghlú mentions is Coiscéim, Cappoquin, County Waterford. The commitment he provided in respect of that property was that the estimated timeframe for completion was the end of September. That had been revised from the previous quarter. What happened with that commitment for the end of September? The estimated timeframe is now the end of the fourth quarter. That has been moved back by three months and the commitment not been delivered upon.

The next item on Mr. Ó Foghlú's list was the fifth item on his list for the last day. It refers to the Sacred Heart centre in Waterford. The estimated time he gave the committee for completion in that instance was the end of September. That had also been moved already from a previous commitment. His response to us today is that it is now being pushed back a further three months.

In the context of the 2002 agreement, none of the three commitments Mr. Ó Foghlú gave to us in writing has been honoured. That is the problem. I do not mind once it has been done but I am not going to have people give commitments to this committee in writing and then fail to honour them. There has been 100% failure to meet the deadlines. They are Mr. Ó Foghlú's deadlines. We will accept the current deadlines he has provided. They are the ones he has chosen for the second or third time, but they had better be honoured in full. Mr. Ó Foghlú is not to come back seeking a further update. If he has a problem, he must inform the committee. If he does not believe those commitments are achievable, why is he stating in writing that they are achievable?