Minutes of Proceedings of the second meeting of the Public Accounts Committee held in Room 152, Parliament Buildings on Wednesday 19th September 2001

Present:
Mr B Bell (Chairman)
Mr Beggs
Mr Carrick
Mr Close
Mr Dallat
Mr Hilditch
Mr McClelland

Apologies
Ms Ramsey
Ms Armitage
Ms Morrice
Mr O'Connor

In Attendance:
Mr M Rickard (Committee Clerk)
Mr J Campbell (Assistant Committee Clerk)
Ms J Duffin
Ms C Angelone

Witnesses Dr Andrew McCormick (Treasury Officer of Accounts)
Mr Brian Delaney (Deputy Treasury Officer of Accounts)
Mr John Dowdall (Comptroller and Auditor General)

• 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:

• To agree the Minutes of the Meeting of 05.09.01
• To discuss with Dr Andrew McCormick, Treasury Officer of Accounts, and Mr Brian Delaney, Treasury Officer of Accounts, the DFP Memorandum of Reply to the 5^th Report from the Public Accounts Committee - Session 2000-2001.
• To receive an update from Mr. John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General, and his staff on the Irish Sport Horse Genetic Testing Unit Ltd
• To receive a presentation from Mr. John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General, and his staff on the forthcoming NIAO Report on the Brucellosis Outbreak at the Agricultural Research College.

Following this introduction, the Chairman turned to the order of business.

• Apologies

Apologies were received from Ms S Ramsey, Ms P Armitage, Ms J Morrice and Mr D O'Connor

• Minutes from Meeting of 5 September 2001

Agreed

The minutes were agreed subject to minor amendment.

4. Memorandum of Reply to the 5^th Report from the Public Accounts Committee - Session 2000-2001

Dr Andrew McCormick, Treasury Officer of Accounts and Mr Brian Delaney, Deputy Treasury Officer of Accounts were examined.

Mr John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) was examined.

• Update by Mr. John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General and his staff on the Irish Sport Horse Genetic Testing Unit Ltd

The C&AG and Mr Donnelly gave a brief outline on additional issues raised following the PAC Report on the Irish Sport Horse Genetic Testing Unit Ltd. Following the presentation they addressed a number of queries raised by the members and outlined the type of questions to be asked in order to draw out conclusions and recommendations for the subsequent PAC Session.

• Presentation by Mr. John Dowdall, Comptroller and Auditor General and his staff on the forthcoming NIAO Report on the Brucellosis Outbreak at the Agricultural Research Institute

The C&AG gave a brief outline on the forthcoming NIAO Report on the Brucellosis Outbreak at the Agricultural Research Institute. This was followed by Mr Hutcheson who gave the Committee a presentation detailing the main issues in the Reports. Following the presentation the C&AG and Mr Hutcheson answered a number of queries raised by the members. They also outlined the type of questions to be asked in order to draw out conclusions and recommendations for the subsequent PAC Report.

• Any Other Business

Publication of Second Report of this Session on the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland: Fleet Management and Issues Arising from the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 Accounts

The Chairman informed members that the next Committee Report, the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland: Fleet Management and Issues Arising from the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 Accounts would be published on Thursday 20^th September 2001.

Declaration of Interest

Mr Carrick declared that his son had studied for his Phd under Professor Fred Gordon (Director and Principal Executive Officer of the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland) who will be one of the witnesses at the Evidence Session on 27^th September 2001.

Evidence Session

The next meeting is at 10.20am on Thursday 27^th September in the Senate Chamber where the Committee will seek an update on the Irish Sport Horse Genetic Testing Unit Ltd and take evidence on the forthcoming NIAO Report on the Brucellosis Outbreak at the Agricultural Research Institute.

The meeting was then drawn to a close at 12:40pm

B Bell
Committee Chairman
7^th November 2001