Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for attending and being so quick to offer to come before us. That happened shortly after - if not during - our discussion with the Minister on this matter in December. I have two points to raise with Professor Kilkelly in advance of Deputy Rabbitte's contribution. It is difficult to understand the rationale for preventing the authors of the report from engaging with the board on any concerns it may have had about parts of the report. Professors Hardwick and Goldson repeated at length that they did not have the opportunity to address any concerns that the board might have had in terms of being in the position to redact or remove certain elements of the report presented to it.

My second point is on the associated costs relating to the report. Our guests know that I am also a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. I find it very difficult when I see the cost of legal advice exceeding the value of the product purchased in the first instance, which in this case was a report costing just over €15,000. We are now looking at €26,000 in legal and associated costs. I appreciate that the board has a job to do and that it is independent. It is still difficult for me, both as Chairman of this committee and as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, to see how that cost is justified. I cannot see the product. During our earlier session, Deputy Mitchell stated that there are 285 paragraphs and 95 recommendations in the report. A number of them are a cause of concern for the members because we do not know the rationale behind them. This presents us with a difficulty, particularly as we are charged with oversight of the Department, Tusla and operations at Oberstown. Therein lies the problem for us, as parliamentarians. We recognise that the board has a job to do, as does Tusla. However, it is exceedingly difficult to do our job because we have not been provided with a product that effectively cost €41,000.