Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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It was never exact. Some counties, if there is no gas network, do not come into the global valuation for Bord Gáis, for example, or Gas Networks Ireland, but most of the big counties do. There are some very big pieces of infrastructure in certain local authority areas. It was a simple way of doing it but is not an accurate assessment of the assets. That global valuation system is one that we here in the Oireachtas have dealt with and amended since time immemorial. It is up to the Oireachtas if we want to do it on an asset-by-asset basis. These are commercial bodies. We all know that lots of other public bodies have schools, courthouses and hospitals, which are not rateable at all because they are non-commercial. We will follow up on that with the Department, Irish Water and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. We will note and publish that.

No. 2549B is from Mr. Jim Meade, chief executive of Irish Rail, dated 13 November 2019 providing further information regarding the use of the public services card for rail travel. Figures about the value of debt are included. We will note and publish this. He refers to my earlier comments. He understands that what was said at this meeting by myself and others was reasonable on the basis of the information that we had. Irish Rail has now provided further information, which helps to clarify the issue. We will come back to the matter of the public services card and free travel in our next periodic report.

No. 2550B is from Mr. Colm Hayes from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and is about the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme. We needed to clarify some matters for the periodic report, which we are launching next Tuesday. We will note and publish that.

No. 2551B is from Mr. Nick Ashmore, chief executive of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, about the number of employees or number of jobs assisted. He takes our point but says that the corporation will explore the viability of seeking additional data at the time of application about the number of jobs to be assisted. However, he says that its preference in such matters is to gather the minimum information needed from small and medium enterprises which are borrowing to meet policy, state aid and founder requirements to keep the application simple and straightforward. If that is the approach it takes, that is fine. It should not be publishing the other information regarding employment if it is not related to what it is doing. My only gripe is that it was claiming some connection between a small loan to a particular organisation and total employment. If it cannot do it and the amounts are small, where it involves small organisations which meet all the other requirements, that is fine but it should not be putting the employment figures in its annual report unless it can stand over them.

No. 2553B is from Professor Willie Donnelly of Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, providing details requested by the committee regarding the build-up of budget deficits in recent years. There is much documentation and Deputy Cullinane might want to comment.