Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want the Minister to expand on the peer review conducted by Rits. It seems curious that the Minister brought in this company to second-guess much of what was said at the committee and reported by Verrimus. A lot of briefing of the media was going on and we witness Verrimus, a UK-based company, issuing public statements to correct what it described as highly inaccurate reporting. Why did the Minister engage Rits to carry out a peer review?

What were its terms of reference? Is it a comparable company, in terms of stature, ability and resourcing, to Verrimus? How does it compare? How much to did the peer review cost? Does it do regular work for the Minister or the Department? Were the Department's procurement guidelines followed in terms of tendering, provision of tax clearance certificates and engaging Rits?

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