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Weekly PAC meetings not always possible for ministers – Teixeira
Kaieteur News – Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira on Wednesday debunked claims by the Opposition that meetings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) are stalled due to the absence of government members.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira
During a press conference at her Queenstown office, the minister said the data pertaining to the number of meetings held for the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Sittings of the National Assembly show a range of 40 to 50 meetings each. Teixeira said, “Look at the facts, look at the number of meetings that were held… That is what you call a red herring being used (by the Opposition); the fact is that the PAC in most countries generally meets once a month. The members in the Opposition want to meet every week. That is not always possible.”
The minister added, “And we have to remember that when you go to meetings and you are not a minister you get accommodation, housing, travelling, meals etc which may be an incentive (for the Opposition) to have weekly meetings.” With respect the reports before the PAC, Teixeira recalled that there was a pile up of reports to be examined from the Auditor General for the years 2015 to 2021. She said in the 11th Parliament where President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s had functioned as Chairman, he was able to conclude the PAC’s review of the 2015 report.
The existing PAC, of which Teixeira is a member, has concluded its examination the 2016 and 2017 reports. She noted however that it is more than a year that the draft report containing the PAC’s findings and recommendations is yet to be concluded by its Chairman, Jermaine Figueira so that it can be tabled in Parliament. Teixeira said a review is ongoing for the 2018 and 2019 AG reports. The minister posited that the Opposition members of the PAC want to rush through this process to remove as quickly as possible, the spotlight that is on their poor track record in government. On the otherhand however, the Opposition is claiming that the government wants to prolong the review of the 2018 and 2019 reports to avoid scrutiny of its performance in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 AG reports.
“… We are not going to stop the review of our years…But we have to get through their reports first,” said the minister.
She further noted that during the Twelfth parliament, there were 59 sittings of PAC, 40 in the Eleventh and 54 in the Tenth. “So in terms of the functioning of the PAC, there has been no big difference in the way it functions now versus previous times…,” the minister said.
In addressing concerns that the review process of the reports seems to be a slothful one, Teixeira said it is not because the members of the PAC are not being diligent. She explained that both Government and Opposition members are allowed by the Chairman to grill various agencies and their representatives, sometimes at the cost of painstakingly repeating their questions to get the facts. In other instances, Teixeira said Permanent Secretaries and Regional Executive Officer (REO) appear with inadequate information or totally unprepared. There are even cases where they are asked to return with the relevant documentation only to say that they have not found same or are simply unavailable. “This is part of the slow up in the PAC which the Opposition doesn’t want to talk about,” the minister said. She concluded that the PAC will have to examine these matters carefully with a view to finding the right solutions.
- Chairman, Gail Teixeira, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, National Assembly, Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
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