Minutes of proceedings of the sixteenth meeting of the Public Accounts Committee held in Room 152, Parliament Buildings on Wednesday 10th January 2001.
Present: Mr B Bell (Chairman)
Ms P Armitage
Mr R Beggs
Mr S Close
Mr J Dallat
Mr D Hilditch
Mr D McClelland
Ms J Morrice
Mr D O'Connor
Ms S Ramsey
Apologies: Mr Mervyn Carrick
In Attendance: Mr M Rickard (Committee Clerk)
Mr J Campbell (Assistant Committee Clerk)
Miss L Tracey
1. Introduction
The Chairman commenced proceedings by welcoming Mr. Dowdall, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), and his staff to the meeting. He then proceeded to outline the objectives of the meeting as:
(i) To approve the minutes of our previous meetings
(ii) To consider the 2001-2002 Estimate of the NI Audit Office
(iii) To discuss the Audit Office's future work programme
Following this introduction, the Chairperson turned to the order of business.
2. Apologies
An apology was received from Mr Mervyn Carrick who was unavailable due to a prior engagement.
3. Minutes of the meetings of 28.11.00 and 14.12.00
Agreed
The minutes were an accurate record of the previous meetings
4. Presentation by C&AG
The Chairman explained to the members present that under Article 6(2) of the Audit (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, as amended by Section 66(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Audit Committee was required to lay the Estimate of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) before the Assembly. In considering the Estimate, the Audit Committee should have regard to the advice from both the Public Accounts Committee and the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP).
In order for PAC to advise the Audit Committee, the C&AG was invited to give a brief résumé on the Estimate. Following the presentation, a lively Question and Answer Session took place where the C&AG addressed members queries.
Agreed
The Estimate is forwarded to the Audit Committee in its present form.
5. Future Work Programme of the NI Audit Office
Following agreement on the response to the NIAO Estimate, the C&AG briefed the Committee on the Reports likely to be published in the next 12 months.
Members put forward additional subjects for consideration which the C&AG agreed to take on board in the Audit Office's Future Work Programme.
The C&AG also informed members that he would make himself available for proposals on an ongoing basis.
6. Any Other Business
The Chairman informed members that a visit to the Public Accounts Committee in Dublin has been arranged for Wednesday 31st January and Thursday 1st February. This will involve travelling down to Dublin mid-afternoon on 31st and returning late afternoon 1st. All members were encouraged to attend. He also informed them that arrangements were being made to organise visits by the Committee to PAC Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff in April 2001.
7. Next Meeting
The next meeting is to held at 10.30am on Thursday 18th January in Room 152 Parliament Buildings for a briefing on Grants to the Irish Sport Horse Genetic Testing Unit Ltd (HC 396) and DARD Suspected Frauds (NIA 6 & NIA 29/00)
William B Bell
Committee Chairman
18 January 2001
