Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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All I am saying, and I will conclude on this, is that, as Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, I have not been subjected to any pressure, I have not had verbal or written advice, hints or anything else.

Every decision I have made, I have made in my own capacity. After the last High Court ruling, there was a useful briefing meeting for the Working Group of Committee Chairmen. All of the Chairmen in attendance felt that it was a major issue that the questioning had not been in line with the written invitation to the witness. I made the point that committee members, including me, never see invitations to witnesses. In other words, it is not just the politicians but also Oireachtas procedures and terms of reference as to what can be asked that need improvement. This is a broad issue across the Houses and is not for us alone. It was accepted by every Chairman and Vice Chairman present that they never saw invitations, yet the outcome of the group's consideration was that the questions were not in line with the invitation issued by officialdom in this building, which had not been passed to the relevant committee.