Vol. 263 No. 2
asked the Minister for Finance when the Appropriation Accounts for 1971-72 are likely to be published; and if he will indicate the steps taken to avoid a recurrence of the excessive delay in the publication of the Appropriation Accounts for 1970-71.
147.
asked the Minister for Finance the action taken in regard to the Departments of State which failed to supply their Appropriation Accounts for 1970-71 to the Comptroller and Auditor General within the time limit laid down by statute; and if the reasons for the delay were common to other Departments.
148.
asked the Minister for Finance why the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Appropriation Accounts for 1970-71, which was available on 31st January, 1972, was not published until September, 1972; and by whom the delay was authorised.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 to 148, inclusive, together.
Arising out of the bank closure in 1970 and its aftermath a serious accumulation of work occurred in the Paymaster General's Office resulting in delay in furnishing statements of receipts and payments to Departments. These statements are necessary for the preparation of Appropriation Accounts. Statements were, however, issued to all Departments simultaneously but I understand from the Comptroller and Auditor General that at the date of his report some seven accounts had not yet been received by him. Some of these were not received until March. Because of this and other delays in printing and proofreading, the Comptroller and Auditor General was not in a position to submit the printed version of the Appropriation Accounts to me until 13th September, 1972. The accounts were presented to the Dáil on 15th September, 1972. I have, however, taken the necessary steps to ensure that the work of issuing statements of receipts and expenditure to the various Departments has been brought up to date and I expect all 1971-72 accounts to be submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General by the statutory date of 30th November, 1972.
I am not sure that I follow that reply. Am I correct in believing that, although the statement of receipts and expenditure issued at the same time to all Departments, some of them were able to get their replies back in time while others failed to do so and failed rather miserably? I think the Department of Justice was one such Department. Could the Parliamentary Secretary indicate why there were some Departments which defaulted while others were able to meet the deadline?
I cannot do that, but the answer is clear enough; the ones that were not in in time were Votes Nos. 17, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25—that is the Stationery Office, the Office of the Minister for Justice, the Garda Síochána, the Prisons, Courts, Land Registry, Registry of Deeds and Charitable Donations and Bequests. They are all generally under the Department of Justice.
Why was this Department the one that failed?
Perhaps the Deputy would address his question to the Minister for Justice.
Is the Minister for Finance taking any action with the Minister for Justice?
I would like to say that after the bank strike there were serious arrears and there was a great turnover of staff and several accounting machines continued to break down and the Minister for Finance in these circumstances arranged to buy three new machines and the arrears have been caught up on.
Nobody blames the Minister for Finance. It was the Minister for Justice who defaulted. The other Departments were OK.
