Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I am not happy with the Minister of State's reply. It is more than one year since the first investigation was conducted into this matter and a number of audits have been carried out since then. Was the request to treat the draft findings as confidential made by the Department or the European Commission? I cannot understand why they are being kept secret because there is no issue if the sum in question is only €165,000. Is it not a fact that the problem does not arise so much from the information technology section as from the absence of documentation or a paper trail? There were estimates but no receipts were produced. Is it a fact that some of this spending occurred in 2000? When does the Minister of State expect to be in a position to respond publicly and transparently to the issues raised?

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