Two reports on State agencies which were submitted to Parliament by the Auditor General’s Department (AGD) but were returned to that office last week are now back with the legislature, setting the stage for a test as to who will blink first.

An AGD source confirmed to the Jamaica Observer that Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis sent the two special audit reports of the Financial Services Commission and Tax Administration Jamaica back to Parliament on Monday.

The source did not say whether Monroe Ellis commented on the matter which has placed House Speaker Juliet Holness at the centre of a growing controversy between the Opposition and the Government.

Last weekend, Government sources insisted that the two reports had been referred by Parliament back to the AGD because the office had failed to comply with the law governing treatment of reports before they are submitted to the House of Representatives.

A letter dated January 8, seen by the Observer, which was sent by House Clerk Valrie Curtis to Monroe Ellis, argued that the reports were not properly or lawfully submitted to Parliament for tabling.

“Please be advised that the aforementioned reports are being returned to you in accordance with the ruling of the Speaker of the House of Representatives that all reports from the Auditor General’s Department, which are an audit of a public body, will be tabled in accordance with Section 30 of the Financial Administration and Audit Act (FAAA) and/or 13A of the Public Administration and Audit Act and the procedures outlined therein,” Curtis said the letter.

The correspondence was reportedly sent by the House clerk after Parliament, via the Speaker, consulted with the parliamentary legal counsel who advised that the reports had not been submitted for tabling in accordance with the law.

Section 30 of the FAAA says the auditor general’s report on examination and audit of any accounts audited pursuant to relevant provisions of the Act shall be submitted to the responsible minister for presentation.

According to the FAAA, the responsible minister, upon receipt of the report, shall obtain the observation of the public body concerned on any matter which has been drawn by the auditor general in the report, and cause such observations to be presented to the House of Representatives together with the report.

The Act also says if the responsible minister fails, within two months of receipt of the report, to present it to the House of Representatives then the auditor general shall transmit a copy of the report to the Speaker to be presented to the House.

The two reports were reportedly sent back to the AGD because the parliamentary counsel advised the House Speaker that the department did not comply with the section of the Act which mandates that the documents should be first sent to the responsible minister prior to being tabled in the House.

Parliament had told the AGD that as soon as the lawful process is observed, the reports would be tabled immediately.

Last Friday the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) reiterated its call for the immediate tabling of reports from all investigative bodies upon submission to Parliament.

The party pointed to the Integrity Commission’s annual report sent to Parliament in 2023 disclosing ongoing investigations involving six parliamentarians for illicit enrichment.

“Subsequently, the Speaker of the House ruled that certain Integrity Commission reports must undergo review by Parliament’s Integrity Commission Oversight Committee before being tabled. This decision was purportedly based on a legal opinion from the attorney general, which remains unshared with the public despite repeated requests from the Opposition,” the PNP said.

It said that the Speaker’s ruling “has stymied the prompt tabling of the auditor general’s performance audit reports sent to Parliament” in January.

“The Speaker’s deviation from the established protocol hinders the timely dissemination of crucial information vital for transparent governance,” the PNP said, adding that it has “strongly opposed this approach, and maintains that the conduct of the Speaker with respect to the timely tabling of reports, and her departure from established practices, is inconsistent with good governance”.