IRELAND
The failure of one of Ireland’s top Public Servants to appear before an Oireachtas (Parliamentary) Committee has been described as “an affront to democracy”.
Secretary-General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Robert Watt (pictured) was summoned to appear before the Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Committee to be questioned on the cost of the controversial Public Services Card (PSC).
Mr Watt wrote to the Committee saying he could not appear for a number of weeks as he was busy framing the Budget.
Chair of the Committee, John McGuinness said this was an affront to democracy and to Parliament.
“He [Mr Watt] was the one who spent that amount of money [on the PSC] on a project that does not fly,” Mr McGuinness said.
Mr Watt’s refusal to appear comes alongside the Minister of Finance, Paschal Donohoe’s refusal to appear before the Committee.
Mr McGuinness said the focus of the hearings was to discuss the expenditure of the Department, not Government policy.
He said he wanted to discuss the cost to the state of the rollout of the card to date.
Mr McGuinness pointed out that using potential court proceedings as an excuse not to appear before the Finance Committee was not acceptable.
Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon has ordered the Government immediately stop processing the data of citizens contained on the PSC for services outside the Department of Social Protection’s remit.
A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed it was preparing to issue a so-called enforcement notice to the Department, which would order it to comply with data protection laws and to protect the rights of citizens.
The Government is likely to challenge the enforcement notice in the courts.
Dublin, 24 September 2019
