Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I wish to explain as simply as I can. Perhaps I can do this in one and a half minutes. At present, there are two bodies involved. The management of the fund, which, as all the Deputies noted, contains a great deal of money, is performed by the National Treasury Management Agency. It manages the fund and its chief executive must ensure that the agency attempts to get the best returns for the State on the investments in that fund. Any place where the chief executive is mentioned in the legislation, it refers to the agency and to the management of the fund. We change neither the management of the fund nor the accountability for the fund's good management to ensure it is well invested. At present, the second aspect is disbursement. Currently, the board makes disbursements. They are given money by the NTMA and they take care of the disbursements. Consequently, the chairperson must be accountable for dispersing the €30 million, €40 million, €50 million or €60 million that it disburses.

We have agreed in the Bill that those disbursements will no longer be made directly by the board but will be made through Departments. Hence, the responsibility for looking after the disbursed moneys will now devolve to Departments and the individuals who must be held responsible are the individuals who actually make the disbursals. From an accounting point of view these individuals will be the Secretaries General of the relevant Departments. Therefore, the chairperson of the board will be relieved of the requirement to come before the Committee of Public Accounts as he or she will not disburse any money. The chairperson will provide advice on a plan and will conduct reviews but will not disburse funds. Since the chairperson will not disburse funds, he or she cannot be held accountable to the Committee of Public Accounts. The person to be called in if one is unhappy or has a query with a particular disbursement will be the relevant Secretary General. This will also be the case if one wishes to discuss the disbursement or to pay someone a compliment for it. Is that all right?

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