Chairman:I welcome everyone to the meeting. Deputy Catherine Murphy sends her apologies for this morning's meeting but expects to join us in the afternoon.

Members and witnesses attending from within the committee room are asked to exercise personal responsibility to protect themselves and others from the risk of contracting Covid-19.

Members of the committee attending remotely must continue to do so from within the precincts of Leinster House. This is due to the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the Parliament. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, is a permanent witness to the committee. He is accompanied by Ms Mairead Leyden, audit manager at the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

This morning we will engage with officials from the Central Bank to examine the following: the Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2020 - Chapter 14: Assessment and collection of Insurance Compensation Fund Levies; the Report on Administration and Movement of the Insurance Compensation Fund for the year ended 31 December 2021; and the Comptroller and Auditor General section 2 report, Unauthorised release of funds from the Central Fund of the Exchequer.

We are joined by the following officials from the Central Bank: Mr. Adrian Varley, director of prudential analysis and inspections and Mr. William Molloy, director of financial operations. We are also joined by the following representatives from the strategic economic development division of the Department of Finance: Dr. Colm O'Reardon, head of unit; and Mr. Paul Cotter, principal officer.