I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The Government's millennium programme covers a two year period, 1999 and 2000. Since its establishment in November 1998, the National Millennium Committee has examined millennium proposals received and has made recommendations to the Government. The £33 million millennium fund is now fully committed, with approximately 2,400 projects and events at national, regional and local levels. Obviously, with such a large number of projects, the administrative work involved in the allocation of millennium funds is still ongoing.
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the millennium celebrations expenditure is, therefore, timely and very useful. The audit of expenditure took place at the beginning of this year, the midway stage of the millennium programme, at which point about one third of the overall fund had been disbursed.
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General will come before the Committee of Public Accounts in due course. This is the appropriate forum for a detailed discussion on the matter, and I am sure the Deputy will agree that we can rely on the expertise of the Committee of Public Accounts to satisfy itself on the issues in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, as well as the Dáil discussion. The Department's accounting officer will be available to the committee to answer all matters arising in the report. Without prejudice to the business of the Committee of Public Accounts and in order to be as helpful as possible to the Deputy, I make the following general comments.
The concerns raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report have been addressed by my Department and appropriate steps have been taken to take on board his recommendations in order to enhance the optimum level of control of Exchequer funds.
For example, in respect of the principal concern on the question of vouching for grant payments, specifically raised by the Deputy, each of the four projects cited in the report have had their accounts inspected by an official of my Department. Their expenditure of millennium funding has been confirmed. Three of those projects, the Liffey boardwalk, the Liffey of lights and millennium festivals, involved public bodies – Dublin Corporation in respect of the Liffey projects and the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation in respect of millennium festivals. The standard of operation of management procedures and expenditure controls in place in these organisations with regard to these projects were satisfactory in the view of the Department.
With respect to the fourth project referred to in the auditor's report – the new year's eve concert – the accounts in respect of expenditure have been inspected by an official of my Department. This free all-day concert in Dublin was attended by up to 40,000 people and was broadcast nationally throughout the day. It was organised under very severe time constraints and involved close liaison between the millennium office, the concert promoters and the other agencies involved, including Dublin Corporation and the Garda. It is generally acknowledged that the circumstances within which this event was organised were exceptional.
In addition to these four projects, a schedule of post-payment and pre-payment inspections of other millennium projects is being put in place. A number of such projects have already been visited by an official of my Department.
It is important to note that there are many positive comments in the auditor's report, notably that the controls and procedures in relation to the selection of projects and adherence to funding limits set by the Government were generally satisfactory, particularly, as the report notes, when account is taken of the once-off nature of the grants and the volume of proposals processed.
In case of any confusion arising from reports or inferences that millennium funds were not applied for the purposes for which they were approved, I take this opportunity to confirm the findings in the auditor's report that all millennium funding has been allocated on the basis of recommendations by the National Millennium Committee and with the subsequent approval of the Government. I emphasise that in no case has millennium funding been allocated in any way other than in this manner.
The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has been of assistance in highlighting where procedures could be improved and these additional controls have been taken on board. I also emphasise that at no time has any Exchequer funding been placed at risk.
To date, nearly £17 million of the millennium fund has been drawn down by recommended projects and I expect that by the end of this year the figure will be close to £20 million. The balance of the committed funding will be drawn down in 2001.
The approach adopted by the millennium committee, with the approval of the Government, was to ensure the widest public participation in celebrating the event while, at the same time, ensuring that major national projects of lasting value were supported. This approach was the correct one and has been successfully achieved.
The millennium celebrations were a unique and special challenge for all involved. I take this opportunity once again to thank the millennium committee and all its members for their time and commitment. Their efforts, and the combined work of the very many people involved right across the country, ensured that Ireland marked the beginning of a new millennium in a meaningful, lasting and dignified manner.