Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to bring George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010 back before the Dáil. All stages of the Bill were taken in Dáil Éireann on Thursday, 18 February and in Seanad Éireann on Tuesday, 23 February 2010. I am now seeking the agreement of Dáil Éireann to one amendment made in the Seanad to section 3 of the Bill.

Section 3 amends subsection 2(3) of the 1998 Act, which comprises a number of general provisions relating to the establishment, scope and management of the George Mitchell scholarship fund, with particular reference to the accounts of the fund. The Seanad amendment ensures that accountability arrangements for the annual audit of the fund are further strengthened. The amendment ensures that the auditor, which the fund manager is obliged to appoint each year, is appointed with the consent of the Minister.

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 Skills. 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. During the debate on Committee Stage in the Dáil it was suggested that consideration should be given to having the Minister actually appoint the auditor each year. I explained then that given that the fund is managed in the United States it is considered more appropriate that a US based audit firm conduct the annual audit of the fund. The present arrangement, whereby the fund manager appoints the auditor, has operated since 1999. Copies of the audited accounts are also conveyed each year to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General before being laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. 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 both the existing and draft new agreement the Minister can request, and the fund manager must permit, additional independent auditors to examine the records relating to all matters of the agreement. Having considered this issue in some detail, however, I am satisfied that having the fund manager appoint the auditor each year with the consent of the Minister makes for an improved arrangement and on that basis I brought forward this ministerial amendment.

I add that my Department is also arranging for the draft new agreement with the alliance to be amended to reflect this provision once the amending legislation has been passed.

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