Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important issue. The statement made by the NTMA yesterday gave the impression that the issue had been raised repeatedly. It suggested it had raised the matter on a number of occasions, from as far back as autumn 2010. The Minister's information is that it was raised once in August 2010 and quite recently in the context of the preparation of the medium-term fiscal plan. Clearly there has been a breakdown at a number of levels. We had a breakdown of procedures in the Department of Finance in that it made the incorrect calculation. The NTMA says the Department is responsible for that calculation. Then, when the mistake was brought to the attention of the Department at a so-called technical level in August last year, it was not acted on. We need to know why and need more detail on that. There is also a question for the NTMA as to why, having signalled this error in August 2010, it included the incorrect figure, about which it had suspicions, in its annual report and accounts published in July 2011. There are, therefore, outstanding questions that need to be answered.

I welcome the fact the Minister has commissioned a report. If I understand correctly, that report is to be prepared by the Secretary General of the Department of Finance, to be followed by an external review of the systems. The review into the matter should be conducted by an external person given that officials in the Department are involved at the heart of the issue. The Minister should ensure an independent external person is appointed to carry out the investigation and that the report is returned to him and published. It is wholly unsatisfactory that Ireland's official debt position was overstated by more than 2% of GDP and that foreign investors looking at Ireland over recent months would have been basing their investment decision on incorrect information. This is deeply unsatisfactory. I hope the Minister will ensure there is an external review of what has happened in this case. There are also questions for the NTMA and the Minister should take those up with the agency and report back to the House on the outcome.

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