Mr. Andrew Kinneen:

I thank Dr. Steele. There is no doubt we agree with the procedures of natural justice in the courts according to which an individual has the right not only to know what he or she is being accused of but also the evidence backing it up and the identity of the accuser. We fully value and follow the standards of the Irish judicial system. I would not quibble with any of that. As Dr. Steele has said, we are bound by the legal provisions in European law. They do not give us discretion to publish the audit findings or the details of the administrative inquiry, but we can assure the Deputy that we are not in the business of leaking confidential information to the public or the media, nor are we in the business of constraining the media's choice as to what is fit to publish. We are not in that space at all. However, as Dr. Steele said, we have been on record over time as being in favour of a higher level of transparency regarding the publication of audits and the response of member states to audit findings, as is the case with our dealings at food safety level and with DG SANTE. It is not the case with DG MARE.