Minutes of Proceedings of the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee held in Room 144, Parliament Buildings on Thursday 8th August 2002

Members Present:
Mr B Bell (Chairman)
Mr Beggs
Mr Carrick
Mr Close
Mr Dallat
Mr Hilditch
Mr McClelland
Ms Morrice
Mr Murphy
Mr O'Connor

Apologies:
Ms Armitage

In Attendance:
Mr J Campbell (Assistant Clerk)
Mr J Dowdall (Comptroller and Auditor General)
Ms Jennifer Dickson (Admin Support)
Mr M Rickard

1. Introduction

The Chairman commenced proceedings by welcoming members and Mr John Dowdall, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), to the meeting.

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

2. Apologies

An apology was received from Ms Armitage.

3. Proposed Move of Committee Clerk

The Chairman outlined to members the sequence of events that had taken place from the 31st July, when he had been informed of the forthcoming transfer of the Committee Clerk, and discussions and correspondence which had taken place subsequently. Each member expressed his /her opinion on the matter.

Agreed.

The Committee should forward the following motion to the Clerk of the Assembly:

1. We welcome the recognition by the Clerk of the Northern Ireland Assembly that there should have been consultation with the Chairman and the Comptroller and Auditor General on the proposed movement of the Committee Clerk.

2. We reject the transitional proposal as it fails to recognise the detrimental impact that it would have on the Committee's heavy programme for the session commencing in September 2002.

3. It is our intention to write to the Assembly Commission in order to ensure that a proper and meaningful consultation process will take place on Clerk movements in the future.

The meeting was drawn to a close at 12:15pm.

B Bell
Committee Chairman
2002