Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

It was in the context of ensuring the best possible value for money in State expenditure that I wrote to all bodies under the aegis of my Department in October 2008 and November 2009. The INS does not receive any grant aid from the Department.

The first time I became aware of the expenses issues was on 18 September 2009, when I wrote to the chairman of the INS asking for a full account of the expenditure items that had been reported in The Irish Times that day. The article highlighted travel expenses incurred by the then CEO. I sought a full report on the matters raised in the article, and I received a reply shortly afterwards from the chairman.

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