Horse Racing Ireland questioned over unspent CCTV grant money

The body was one of several questioned by the Public Accounts Committee, which also examined spend by Caranua, RTÉ and Children's Health Ireland

Sinn Féin TD and chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanley said he was "'baffled' that Horse Racing Ireland had not spent the funding allocated to it for CCTV monitoring. File picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

The head of institutional abuse fund Caranua has been sharply criticised for requesting a meeting in private to discuss certain applicants to the service who were unhappy with their experience.

Rachel Downes, chief executive of the €111m fund, which is due to be decommissioned on Wednesday, has written to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to say that while Caranua “accepts” that two survivors have given permission for their cases to be discussed, nevertheless it is her position that she "could not discuss individual cases”.