PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITEE
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Room 144, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Mr John O’Dowd (Chairperson)
Mr Jonathan Craig
Mr John Dallat
Mr Simon Hamilton
Mr David Hilditch
Mr Ian McCrea
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin
Ms Dawn Purvis
In Attendance:
Mrs Debbie Pritchard (Principal Clerk)
Mr Jim Beatty (Assembly Clerk)
Mrs Nicola Shephard (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr John Lunny (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Ricky Shek (Clerical Officer)
Apologies:
Mr Roy Beggs
Mr Trevor Lunn
Mr Patsy McGlone
The meeting opened at 2.01pm in public session.
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Apologies.
Apologies are listed above.
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Minutes of the meeting on 31 January 2008.
Agreed: The minutes were agreed.
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Matters arising.
None.
- Briefing on Excess Votes.
Mr John Dowdall CB, Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), Mr Stephen McCormick, Director for Value for Money, NIAO, Ms Dorinnia Carville, Audit Manager, NIAO and Mr David Thomson, Treasury Officer of Accounts, Department of Finance and Personnel, briefed the Committee on Excess Votes and answered members’ questions.
2.16pm The meeting went into closed session.
Members then considered the draft Committee Report on Excess Votes.
Members considered the report page by page.
Pages 1-5 read and agreed.
Agreed: Members ordered the report to be printed.
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Issues arising from oral evidence session on the NIAO Report ‘Older People and Domiciliary Care’.
Members discussed issues relating to the evidence session.
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Correspondence.
Mr John Dowdall CB, C&AG, briefed the Committee on a NIAO investigation into fraud allegations in the former Jobskills Training Programme.
Members considered an invitation from Treasury Officer of Accounts to the official opening of Account NI in Goodwood House on Thursday 14 February.
Agreed: Members agreed to inform the Clerk if they wished to attend.
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Press Release.
Members considered a press release in relation to the launch of the Committee’s Report on Job Evaluation in the Education and Library Boards.
Agreed: Members amended and agreed the press release.
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Any other business.
Mr McCrea suggested that committee papers could be printed double sided where possible in the future.
Agreed: Members agreed to double sided printing where appropriate.
Mr Dallat brought a letter he had been given in relation to the evidence session on the NIAO report ‘Job Evaluation in the Education and Library Boards’ to the attention of the Committee. The Chairperson informed the Committee that he had received a similar letter and would put his letter before the members at next week’s meeting.
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Date, time and place of next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 14 February 2008 at 2.00pm in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 2.43pm.