Shane Ross (Independent)

I call for a debate on the Comptroller and Auditor General's report which was published last week. I am not doing so to knock the Government in any sense because, while it provides a great deal of material with which the Opposition can criticise the Government, I do not really believe that it is a matter of great concern.

Successive Governments have presided over huge waste in the public sector on an ongoing basis. It would be useful for the House to discuss transport, to which Senator Morrissey referred. While this is not an issue of waste, it does concern auditors having missed a €2 million item. It is a matter of public concern that the auditors, KPMG, failed to see — as it was their duty to see and certify as being true — that €2 million due to the Government from National Toll Roads was not paid over. Not only was it missed and miscomputed extraordinarily by the company, but it was also missed and miscomputed by the National Roads Authority and the Department of Transport. I will not be more specific than that, but I wonder how many other items of this sort are being missed by auditors who are paid specifically not to miss these items. How that particular item was missed is beyond explanation.

Senator O'Toole referred to auctioneers but it is not yet time for the House to congratulate itself on having achieved anything in this regard. Nonetheless, a commission was established and I thank the Leader and the Minister for their help in that matter. I ask the Leader to make representations to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform so that when legislation is introduced to attack this last refuge of the cowboys who call themselves professionals, it should be introduced in this House because the input has come from the Seanad and not the Lower House.