I beg to move

That this Assembly orders that any report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which has been prepared under Article 8 of the Audit (NI) Order 1987 for presentation to the Northern Ireland Assembly in accordance with Article 11 of that Order, be printed and published under the authority of the Assembly.

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle.

The motion addresses the issue of privilege of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s reports. Until devolution, all his publications were ordered to be published by the Westminster Parliament and were, therefore, privileged. That clearly represents good practice in public-sector audit, as it allows the Comptroller and Auditor General to give a full and complete report of his findings to the legislature.

To date, most of the main reports, which the Public Accounts Committee has taken evidence on and reported, have been fully covered by privilege, as they were published by order of the Westminster Parliament. It would have been difficult to bring several of those reports to the Committee without that status. Indeed, there are a number of Northern Ireland Audit Office reports that deal with potentially controversial issues, and it is important that those should be published with the authority of the Assembly.

In light of that, I am sure that Members will agree that it is important that we ensure that the arrange­ments for audit and accountability under the Assembly are at least as robust as those that existed under direct rule.

In due course, consideration will be given to reflecting the arrangement in Standing Orders or, if an opportunity arises, in legislation. However, until such times, this motion will provide the Comptroller and Auditor General with the necessary privilege — subject to the Assembly’s resolution today — to publish all future reports and, through that process, to ensure that we receive the quality of information from the auditors that is necessary to carry out our work.

I, therefore, commend the motion to the House.

If the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee are to be able to carry out their work, this motion will be an essential part of the process. I support the motion.

I apologise. I should have called Mr Robin Newton first.

As Chairperson of the Audit Committee, I support the motion. Members will understand that there has been some concern in the Audit Committee on the matter. The Committee discussed the issue in some detail at its meeting on 7 November 2007. The Committee is also of the opinion that absolute privilege is an essential requirement so that the Northern Ireland Audit Office can carry out its functions completely.

(Mr Speaker in the Chair)

Audit Committee members expressed their concern at the meeting on 7 November that the Comptroller and Auditor General does not have the same powers as his counterparts in Westminster and Wales. The Committee believes that it is fundamental to the practice of public audit that the Assembly’s auditor should be able to present all significant and relevant findings to the Assembly without the threat of legal challenge from third parties involved in the report issues.

It is also characteristic of good custom and practice that all facts are reported and are freely available to the legislature and the general public. This motion will permit the Assembly to order that the reports of the Northern Ireland Audit Office are printed and published, therefore extending absolute privilege to the Comptroller and Auditor General. I, therefore, commend the motion to the House.

I call Mr Trevor Lunn. I call Mr Simon Hamilton.

That was the shortest speech on record — I hope that mine is not the longest.

I support the motion. The Public Accounts Committee is essential to the Assembly, if it is not always welcomed by those who come before it from time to time. The Committee has been extremely active in the past; and its work plan until the end of the year and for next year confirms that. The Committee is starting to set its own agenda and to look at its own issues, such as the situation in the Northern Ireland Events Company, which is currently in the news. The Committee will examine that matter in time, and it is essential that that good work is not hampered by loss of privilege.

Not having the ability to publish reports under the authority of the Assembly would seriously impede the work of the Comptroller and Auditor General and, by extension, the work of the Public Accounts Committee.

The Public Accounts Committee having that privilege rightly keeps the Assembly in line with its counterparts in England and Wales and, in the long term, I hope that such situations might be addressed by legislation or Standing Orders. However, in the interim, I fully support the motion as it stands.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved:

That this Assembly orders that any report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which has been prepared under Article (8) of the Audit (NI) Order 1987 for presentation to the Northern Ireland Assembly in accordance with Article 11 of that Order, be printed and published under the authority of the Assembly.