Ministry Secretaries issued directives on attending parliamentary committee meetings 

Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake

Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake issued a set of directives to all Secretaries to Ministries with regard to attending the meetings of parliamentary committees in writing yesterday.

As per the instructions, all officials attending parliamentary committee meetings were directed to obtain adequate knowledge about the topics being discussed prior to their attendance and be prepared to furnish information whenever requested by the committee.

Ekanayake in his communique recommended that preparatory meetings be held to ensure officials are ready to address inquiries raised by the members of the committee regarding the agenda items. In situations where officials are posed with questions not covered by the agenda, the Secretary to the President said they may request a reasonable timeframe to gather information and provide a response within the agreed-upon time.

Secretaries were also instructed to send in a senior official of the Ministry as a representative with the permission of the Chairperson of the relevant Committee in the event the Secretary is unable to attend the meeting. 

“Further, the officials should attend the meetings of the Sectoral Oversight Committees with the approval of the relevant Minister. However, if the Minister has concerns regarding the matters to be discussed, those shall be conveyed to the Chairperson of the Sectoral Oversight Committee by the Minister,” the communique read. 

“If the Honourable Leader of the Opposition wishes to summon public officers to a meeting to be held in the Parliamentary premises, he will inform the Honourable Minister in writing, who will then sanction the officers to attend such meetings. When the officials of the Ministry of Finance are summoned for finance-related Oversight Committees, they could attend the meetings with the approval of the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance,” it added.