Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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From the perspective of the committee and on this point, I would argue that within five months of today, the witnesses might be back before us to discuss matters when the Comptroller and Auditor General gets the report done on those accounts given what we are discussing at length here today and just last May. I think we will need to look at those accounts in more detail.

Turning to the latter part of Professor Laffan's statement, I concur with the need for internal controls. Anybody who has followed this saga would be aware of it, to say the least. Reading the statement on the systems of internal control in the 2022 annual report last night, I was struck by the text under the "Risk Management" heading:

The University has a robust Risk Management Framework in place that is subject to regular review to ensure it reflects best practice. The Framework includes clearly defined process for the identification of new risks and process for evaluating and managing existing risks.

In the context of our meetings today and last May, is that really a reflective statement for the university given what we know now?