18. (1) The chief executive shall, whenever required by the Committee of Dáil Éireann established under the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann to examine and report to Dáil Éireann on the accounts and reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, give evidence to that Committee on—

(a) the regularity and propriety of the transactions recorded or required to be recorded in any book or other record or account subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General that the Agency and a subsidiary DAC is required by, or under, an enactment to prepare,

(b) the economy and efficiency of the Agency and each subsidiary DAC in its use of the resources made available to it under this Act,

(c) the systems, procedures and practices employed by the Agency and each subsidiary DAC for the purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of its operations, and

(d) any matter affecting the Agency or any subsidiary DAC referred to in—

(i) any special report of the Comptroller and Auditor General under section 11(2) of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993, or

(ii) any other report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (in so far as it relates to a matter specified in any of paragraphs (a) to(c)) that is laid before Dáil Éireann.

(2) In appearing before the Committee referred to in subsection (1), the chief executive appears as a person accountable to the Committee and not as an accounting officer.

(3) The chief executive, in giving evidence under subsection (1), shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such a policy.

(4) Any evidence given under subsection (1) shall, subject to preserving confidentiality in relation to such commercially sensitive information as determined by the Board, relate to the policies of the Agency.

(5) If the chief executive is unable to appear before the Committee referred to in subsection (1) he or she may nominate a director of the Board or a senior officer of the Agency to appear on his or her behalf and subsections (2), (3) and (4) shall apply to a person so nominated.