Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I refer to what Senator Doherty said. I reported earlier in the year that there were about 44 recommendations from the AAIU that were outstanding and there was no answer whatsoever as to what had happened. This is precisely what Senator Doherty is talking about, that is, reporting mechanisms.

After I spoke about the fact that these matters were all open with the AAIU report, within a very short time they were all suddenly closed. However, they were closed in an unsatisfactory way. It is very clear that in one or two cases - I cannot remember them off the top of my head right now - the IAA and the AAIU had accepted that steps had been taken but those steps were not consistent with what was required as a result of the AAIU report.

This is why the reporting mechanism is important and we have to be able to go back to look at audits and satisfy ourselves that things that were recommended and omissions and problems identified are actioned rapidly and not just closed off for the sake of doing so. From that point of view, I ask the Minister of State to accept this amendment. We could get on really well if we got one or two amendments through.