Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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The business before us includes minutes, accounts and financial statements, correspondence, work programme and any other business. The minutes of our meeting on 3 March have been circulated. Does any member wish to raise any matter relating to the minutes? Are the minutes agreed? Agreed. As usual, the minutes will be published on the committee's web page.

Six sets of financial statements and accounts were laid before the Houses between 28 February and 4 March 2022. As the Comptroller and Auditor General could not be with us this afternoon, I will ask Mr. Harkness, director of audit at the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, to address these before opening the floor to members.

Mr. Andy Harkness:

These audited financial statements relate to the 2020 financial year. A clear audit opinion was given for the Criminal Assets Bureau. The Loughs Agency, which is a North-South body, was given a clear audit opinion. The audit given for Children's Health Ireland was qualified on the grounds of the accounting treatment for pensions. Attention was also drawn to significant non-compliant procurement. A clear audit opinion was given for An Coimisinéir Teanga. For the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, a qualified audit opinion was given in relation to the accounting for pensions. Attention was also drawn to a potential conflict of roles. A clear audit opinion was given for Ordnance Survey Ireland.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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On the Children's Health Ireland budget and the exception that it accounts for the cost of retirement benefit analysis only as pensions become payable, we get this in a lot of the statements and audit opinions for health bodies. Will the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General give a view as to whether there are moves to change that practice? Would it be beneficial to do so? Is there anything the Committee of Public Accounts should be doing in that regard?

Mr. Andy Harkness:

There is a project to look at the modernisation of accrual accounting in central government. That could have an impact on accounting across the public sector.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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The Loughs Agency was given a clear audit opinion. A number of those North-South bodies tend to have very good audit procedures. It is good to see that. They were set up under the Good Friday Agreement. Can we agree to note the accounts and statements? Agreed. As usual, the listing of accounts and financial statements will be published as part of our minutes.

We do not have too many items of correspondence. As previously agreed, items that are not flagged for discussion for this meeting will continue to be dealt with in accordance with the proposed actions that have been circulated and decisions taken by the committee in relation to correspondence will be recorded in the minutes of the committee meetings and published on the committee's web page.

The first category of correspondence under which members have flagged items for discussion is C, which is correspondence from, and related to, private individuals and any other correspondence. At last week's meeting, we agreed to hold over No. 1091 C, correspondence from Deputy Dillon dated 21 February, which is a request to the committee to consider scheduling a meeting with Eir. Deputy Dillon has not rejoined us yet but I will open the matter to the floor if any other member wishes to address it.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Is it in order for this committee to invite Eir before it?

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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We cannot compel it to come because it is not accountable to the Committee of Public Accounts. The request can be made. That can be done but, certainly, there can be no means of compelling its representatives to attend because it is a private company. Once upon a time, it was a semi-State but even commercial semi-States are not compelled, although if that was the case, there would be a greater level of expectation that it would attend. At this stage, however, Eir has been a private company since 1999. I suggest, to be fair to Deputy Dillon, that we put it off until the next meeting of the committee and we deal with it then, finally, one way or the other. I do not want to defer it any longer. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The next item on the agenda is the work programme. Next week is a non-sitting week due to Lá le Pádraig. The week after that, on 24 March, we will engage with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. As usual, if there are any particular matters of interest to members that they would like to receive a briefing on in advance of the meeting, please let the clerk know.

On 31 March, we will commence a series of justice-related meetings for which the following engagements have been confirmed: An Garda Síochána on 31 March, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission for the morning of 7 April and the Policing Authority for the afternoon of 7 April. There are then two non-sitting weeks scheduled for Easter, which means that the next meeting after Easter will be on 28 April. That will be with the Department of Justice - there are a good few justice-related issues coming up - and will examine the appropriation account of the Department and the Irish Prison Service. That is the last confirmed meeting.

We previously agreed that we will engage with the University of Limerick, the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform after the meeting with the Department of Justice, but these meetings have not yet been scheduled. On matters in the public domain regarding the Department of Health and the HSE, we previously agreed that we would examine any prior year's adjustment to the HSE’s accounts once the Comptroller and Auditor General has audited the HSE’s 2021 financial statements and they are laid before the House. The committee did that for a good reason. Some of the stuff in the media did not reflect that or the intentions of the committee. The committee's intentions were not represented and, to some extent, were misrepresented.

In respect of other issues we have identified from reports in the public domain concerning the Department of Health and the HSE, we have yet to decide whether to address them as part of our engagement on the HSE’s 2021 financial statements or to hold a separate hearing before the summer. The next available date is 5 May. We could look to schedule the University of Limerick, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform or the Department of Finance in May as well. I will open it to members, including Deputies Dillon, Carthy or anybody else who wants to come in on that. What order do members wish to take those meetings in? Does anybody have any views on that? Okay. The next available date is 5 May. We could schedule a prior hearing with the HSE and the Department of Health for that date, if it is the wish of the committee. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We then have the University of Limerick and the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance in May as well. I will request the secretariat try to schedule those meetings.

Obviously, it will depend on their availability as well. We had quite a strong engagement with the HSE and the Department of Health this morning so we will check that.

For the month of May, we will have the HSE and the Department of Health on the same day. We will try to schedule a meeting with the University of Limerick because there are a number of issues relating to it that we want to examine. We can try to schedule meetings with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance. We will leave that with the secretariat and ask it to get dates that are suitable for all involved and that fit in with our work programme.

Are there any other matters members wish to raise regarding the work programme? If not, that concludes our consideration of the work programme for today.

The final item is any other business. Do any members wish to raise any other matters? No. The committee will now go into private session before adjourning until 24 March 2022, when it will engage with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland regarding its 2020 financial statements.