Northern Ireland Assembly Flax Flower Logo

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITEE
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Room 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Present:
Mr Paul Maskey (Chairperson)
Mr Roy Beggs (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Thomas Burns
Mr Jonathan Craig
Mr John Dallat
Mr Trevor Lunn
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin
Ms Dawn Purvis
Mr George Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

In Attendance:
Ms Alison Ross (Assembly Clerk)
Mrs Gillian Lewis (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr John Lunny (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Darren Weir (Clerical Officer)

Apologies:
Mr Jim Wells

The meeting opened at 2.00pm in public session.

1. Apologies.

Apologies are listed above. Members wished to extend their sympathy to Mr Wells and his family on their recent bereavement.

2. Minutes of the meeting on 11 December 2008.

Agreed: The minutes were agreed.

3. Matters arising.

(a) The Chairperson informed members that the visit to meet with the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts will take place on 18 and 19 Feburary 2009.
Agreed: Members agreed the dates of the visit to Dublin and that they would inform the Clerk if they would be attending.

(b) Members considered a venue for the evidence session on North/South Bodies.
Agreed: Members agreed that the meeting would be held in the InterTrade Ireland offices in Newry, with a presentation before lunch.

2.06pm Ms Purvis joined the meeting.

(c) Members considered a venue for the evidence session on the NIAO report ‘Control of Bovine Tuberculosis’ on 26 March 2009.
Agreed: Members agreed that the meeting on 26 March 2009 would be held in CAFRE Greenmount Campus, including a brief tour of the relevant facilities.

(d) Members noted correspondence from the Treasury Officer of Accounts and Assembly Legal Services in relation to Tourism Ireland Limited.

4. Consideration of Memorandum of Reply (MOR) on the Committee’s Report on Sea Fisheries: Vessel Modernisation and Decommissioning Schemes.

Members considered the responses to the Committee’s Report on Sea Fisheries: Vessel Modernisation and Decommissioning Schemes.

Agreed: Members agreed to obtain an update on the progress against the Department’s responses to the Committee’s recommendations in 12 months’ time.

5. Briefing on NIAO Report ‘Road Openings by Utilities: Follow-up to Recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee’.

Mr John Dowdall CB, C&AG, Mr Eddie Bradley, Director, Mr Gerry Feely, Audit Manager, and Mr Joe Campbell, Audit Manager, briefed the Committee on the NIAO Report, ‘Road Openings by Utilities: Follow-up to Recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee’.

2.18pm The meeting went into closed session.

The witnesses answered a number of questions put by members.

2.30pm Mr Burns left the meeting.
3.23pm Mr McLaughlin left the meeting.

6. Consideration of the Committee’s Draft Second Composite Report.

Members considered the draft report paragraph by paragraph.

The Committee considered the main body of the report.

Paragraphs 1 – 42 read and agreed.

Paragraph 43 read, amended and agreed.

Paragraph 44 read and agreed.

The Committee considered the Executive Summary.

Paragraphs 1 – 6 read and agreed.

Agreed: Members agreed that the Chairperson’s letters requesting information to the Accounting Officers, Department of Finance and Personnel, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Department of the Environment, and Department of Education, and their responses would be included in the Committee’s report, together with update information provided by C&AG on Improving Numeracy and Literacy in Schools.

Agreed: Members ordered the report to be printed.

Agreed: Members agreed to embargo the report until 00.01am on Thursday, 5 February 2009, when the report would be officially released.

Agreed: Members agreed not issue a press release nor to hold a press conference on Thursday, 5 February 2009 to launch the Committee’s report.

7. Any other business.

(a) Financial Provisions Bill 2009: Members considered correspondence from the Clerk to the Committee for Finance and Personnel (CFP) relating to the Financial Provisions Bill 2009. The witnesses attending were Mr John Dowdall CB, C&AG, Mr Kieran Donnelly, Deputy C&AG, and Mr Joe Campbell, Audit Manager.

Agreed: Members agreed to respond to the Clerk to the CFP that they had no objection to the content of the Bill.

(b) The Chairperson informed members that the Local Government Audit Report ‘Absenteeism in Northern Ireland Councils’ had been received, and it was available in the Committee Office, if any member wished to have a copy.

(c) Members discussed and agreed arrangements for asking questions at evidence sessions.

8. Date, time and place of next meeting.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 22 January 2009 at 2.00pm in the Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 3.42pm.

Paul Maskey
Chairperson, Public Accounts Committee.
22 January 2009

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