Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I have three questions. The Tánaiste asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to start his inquiry straight away rather than wait for the report of the Committee of Public Accounts. Has she received a response from the Comptroller and Auditor General with regard to that specific request, and if so, what was it?

Second, the Tánaiste suggested on "Morning Ireland" that she felt the Committee of Public Accounts was following another agenda. Perhaps she will clarify exactly what she meant when she suggested that the all-party Committee of Public Accounts was following another agenda.

Third, and perhaps most important, what is the Tánaiste's agenda with regard to all these matters? When we first began to discuss this several months ago, she told the House that she was happy with FÁS. Subsequently, she told the House that she believed the matter had been dealt with by the Comptroller and Auditor General. When further revelations came forward, the Tánaiste said that her Secretary General would follow the matter up with the director general. Subsequently again, she asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out a report. It now appears that she has chosen not to allow the Committee of Public Accounts to complete its inquiry and that she wants the Comptroller and Auditor General to do it.

Aside from my first two questions, I wish to know what the Tánaiste's agenda is with regard to this issue. Does she want there to be a comprehensive forensic audit of FÁS or does she merely want a quick limited investigation that she can brush away and move on — essentially a cover up?

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