Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin is glad that the amendments of our colleague, Deputy Cullinane, managed to amend the Bill to allow for more scrutiny of the work of this office because a lot of power and control will be vested in it. In an age in which the issue of data is assuming ever more importance, such scrutiny is needed. The Government had initially excluded this new office from the scrutiny of the Committee of Public Accounts. As this was unacceptable to Sinn Féin, Deputy Cullinane tabled a number of amendments to address this issue. Some of these amendments were accepted and the National Shared Services Office, once established, will now be fully answerable to the Committee of Public Accounts. The matter does not end there, however. Sinn Féin will continue to monitor the office and to argue for increased scrutiny.