We will note that.
No. R1498B, from Mr. David Moloney, Secretary General, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, dated 7 October 2022, is the minute of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to our report on our examination of Vote 29, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, programme B, broadcasting, for 2019, and Vote 33, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, for 2020. The minute of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is the official response to the recommendations of this committee. I raised this matter with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last week as the minute is not in line with the Department’s own circular, that is, Circular 01/2011. That circular provides that the minute should respond to every recommendation, stating whether that recommendation has been accepted or not and the reasons for same. That has not been done in regard to any of the recommendations in our report. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media cites RTÉ’s independence under the Broadcasting Act but many of the recommendations are to the Department rather than RTÉ, and are not directly addressed.
It is open to us to take the matter up with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. We could also write to the Accounting Officer of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to request an official explanation of the poor quality of response. It is proposed to note and publish this item. I will open the matter to the floor in order to discover how members wish to proceed. Deputy Catherine Murphy and I flagged this for discussion today, and even last week. Members will see that the response provided is totally inadequate. I am not happy with the fact that the Department seems to be brushing away the recommendations of the committee. I propose that we write to the Minister and the Secretary General of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media about the matter.