John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

When the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2009 was debated in the House in December 2009 to consider whether to bring the authority within the audit remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, to allow the Comptroller and Auditor General to undertake special reports into the authority's operations, and to require its CEO to come before the Public Accounts Committee to report on the authority's accounts or any special report undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General, I indicated that I would keep the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General in auditing the authority under review, pending consideration of the findings and recommendations of the corporate governance reviews being undertaken by the authority.

Having regard to the need for proper adherence to due process and fair procedures, I requested the authority to carry out a consultation process with current and former staff and board members to afford them an opportunity to consider and make submissions on the reports involved - that is, the independent Brassil and King reports commissioned by the authority into its planning and financial functions - together with an overview report prepared by the authority's executive board. Following completion of this third-party consultation process, the authority provided the finalised consultancy reports to me on 23 April, while some further revisions to the executive board's report were communicated to me by the authority on 24 May. I have considered the reports' contents and have also submitted them to the Government. In line with my clearly articulated commitment that these reports would, subject to legal advice, be made publicly available, I published the three reports yesterday and arranged for copies to be placed in the Oireachtas Library.

Arising from the comprehensive analysis and conclusions of the review, and acknowledging the view of the authority's board that a further investigation would be required to deal with certain matters, I announced yesterday that the Government had decided to bring the authority within the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. This means the DDDA will become subject to Comptroller and Auditor General audit and may also be subject to the preparation of specific reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General on the efficient use of resources and value for money.

With regard to the matter of certain files and other documentation relating to the purchase of the Irish Glass Bottle site not being properly kept or available within the authority, this is, of course, a serious issue. While I acknowledge that the authority has already implemented many of the corporate governance review recommendations on the keeping of files and records, it is important that the authority addresses any gaps or omissions in its records, and I am confident that it will continue to work urgently to achieve this to the greatest extent possible.

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