Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I refute that charge on the following basis. On the occasion of the internal audit report being made available to me, I asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out a further investigation and report on this matter. The Committee of Public Accounts was carrying out an investigation and the Comptroller and Auditor General advised that he did not wish to complete the terms of reference until he heard what the committee had to say. That report was brought to my attention by the Comptroller and Auditor General. In the interim, several other actions were taken by me. First, the director general stepped down, an interim director general was appointed and, subsequently, a new director general was appointed.

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