178.—(1) The Board, the Director and any relevant member of the staff of the Board shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, permit any person appointed by the Minister to examine the books or other records of account of the Board in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination, and the Board shall pay such fee therefor as may be fixed by the Minister.

(2) In subsection (1) “relevant member of the staff of the Board” means a member of the staff of the Board to whom there has been duly assigned functions relating to the books or other records of account referred to in that subsection.

(3) The accounts of the Board for each financial year shall be prepared in such a form and manner as may be specified by the Minister and be prepared by the Director and approved by the Board as soon as practicable but not later than three months after the end of the financial year to which they relate for submission, as soon as practicable, to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit.

(4) A copy of such of the accounts referred to in subsection (3) as the Minister directs and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon shall be presented to the members of the Board and to the Minister, as soon as practicable after the audit of them is completed, and the Minister shall cause a copy of those documents to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.