We’re under house arrest: anger as civil servant joins PAC meetings

THE Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee has come into conflict with Oireachtas authorities over a decision to send a civil servant to oversee its work, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

One committee member even said the PAC had been put under ‘house arrest’.

The ruling body of the parliament, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, confirmed that civil servants would attend committees from now on but denied the decision was forced by the Government.

‘They should help the PAC do their work’

But some members of the PAC are deeply unhappy.

It is understood that Independent TD Shane Ross objected to the presence of a civil servant, Charles Hearne, at a private PAC meeting 10 days ago.

The PAC has conducted a number of high-profile investigations into the use of public funds in recent months.

The public clash with former Fine Gael adviser Frank Flannery and the former head of Rehab Angela Kerins has now reached the High Court, where Ms Kerins is seeking compensation from the PAC because of its treatment of her.

The legal bills alone for the Oireachtas in the case are likely to be substantial.

PAC chairman John McGuinness is unhappy about the move: ‘The Oireachtas Commission would be far better properly resourcing the committees rather than applying further layers of bureaucracy on top. They should be enabling them to do their work, not presenting them with some sort of roadblocks,’ he said.

However, a spokeswoman for the Oireachtas said the appointment of a civil servant was an action ‘that minimises exposing the Oireachtas, and therefore the Oireachtas Commission, to potentially costincurring challenges’.

Ten days ago there were angry scenes at a PAC meeting held behind closed doors when the committee asked why Mr Hearne was present in the committee room. Mr Ross is believed to have asked him why he was there and expressed concern at his presence.

A member of the PAC said he felt the presence of the civil servant was an attempt to monitor the controversial work of the committee. ‘We were put under house arrest was how some of us felt,’ said one PAC member. ‘There was no reason for that civil servant to be there, in our opinion, other than to watch what we were up to.’

The Oireachtas Commission is chaired by the Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett.

In a statement from the Oireachtas press office, a spokeswoman explained the presence

‘There to watch what we were up to’

of the official: ‘Following recent routine staff changes in the committee secretariat… the new personnel heading up this unit are fully briefing themselves in their new duties, which includes the day-to-day workings of committees and are immersing themselves in that work,’ she said.

‘Part of that includes attending numerous committee meetings. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has also asked that this unit ensure they are in a position to support all committees with the advice necessary in a way that minimises exposing the Oireachtas, and therefore the Oireachtas Commission, to cost-incurring challenges.

‘This represents the good management so often called for when it comes to our parliament and, contrary to some ill-informed suggestions, the managers who are attending the committees are doing so in order to ensure they are on top of their jobs. The suggestion that the officials or the commission have some connection to government is plain wrong.’