Officials from Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture will be before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) tomorrow to discuss Teagasc’s ‘Financial Statements 2017’.
The meeting will commence with an overall discussion and review of the recent report published by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) into the Accounts of the Public Service 2017.
The C&AG has highlighted a number of items in his report and the committee will discuss incorporating these into its work programme.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, PAC chair, Sean Fleming, said today: “The committee will question Teagasc on the reduction in its operating surplus to €5.023 million in 2017 from €7.950 million in 2016.
“We will also question Teagasc on its procurement practices, specifically what gave rise to 19 contracts being non-compliant with procurement guidelines.
In 2017, €11.8 million was paid to Teagasc on advisory service fees.
Teagasc director Prof. Gerry Boyle and chief operations officer Tom Doherty are set to appear at tomorrow’s meeting, while acting secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Kevin Smith will also be present.
The meeting will start at 9:00am in Committee Room 3, Leinster House. Proceedings can be viewed live on the Oireachtas website.