The Sami Parliament's control committee is demanding full access to the investigation report on former Sami Parliament director Inger Marit Eira-Åhrén, NRK reported. When the committee asked for the report, it received only a partially redacted version from the Sami Parliament administration.
The case began in January 2026 with warnings against the director concerning financial dispositions, and the Sami Parliament Council hired the auditing firm BDO to examine it. NRK revealed that the director had leased a car at her regular workplace in Karasjok for more than 65,000 kroner, approved her own rental car invoices, and received over 833,000 kroner in travel-time pay for commuting. NRK also showed that 87 days of rental car use lacked a corresponding travel expense claim.
On 3 July the council concluded that the director had not broken formal rules and closed the case, exempting the report, the council's decision and the president's impartiality assessment from public access.
At the committee meeting on Tuesday, members were sharply critical of the secrecy. "As I see it, it's now impossible to read anything at all out of the report," said lawyer and committee member Jørn Are Gaski, adding that even the questions about what was to be investigated are redacted. Roger Iversen of Nordkalottfolket said it was strange that the Office of the Auditor General gets full access while the Sami Parliament's own control body does not.
"We actually need access," he said. Kai-Rune Hætta of Ap said the committee asked for the whole report without limiting it to systems, and that the administration narrowed it itself. Marit M.
Kemi of the Norwegian Sami Association argued that privacy weighs heavily and that the committee should justify its need, while committee leader Toril Bakken Kåven said the administration should not decide what the committee needs to see.
The majority then adopted a demand for access to the entire report and all correspondence between the Sami Parliament and the Office of the Auditor General. Acting director Liss-Ellen Ramstad said the committee's mandate covers systems and routines, not personnel matters, and that access must be weighed against privacy and trust in the whistleblowing system. The administration says the committee must specify its control purposes before a new assessment.