Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

The George Mitchell scholarship fund is held, controlled and managed in the United States by a fund manager, currently the US-Ireland Alliance, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science. The current arrangement, whereby the fund manager appoints the auditor, has operated since 1999. Copies of the Irish accounts are conveyed each year to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General before being laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Given that the fund is managed in the United States, it is considered more appropriate that a US based audit firm conducts the annual audit of the fund. It is also considered more practical for the fund manager to select the firm to conduct the annual audit in the ordinary course of events. Under the existing agreement, the fund manager is required to provide the Minister with a copy of the audited accounts of the fund on an annual basis. Under both the existing and the draft new agreements, the Minister can request to examine the records relating to all matters in the agreement. However, I am happy to consider the suggestion of Deputy Quinn further during the debate in the Seanad next week.

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