asked the Taoiseach if he will take steps to ensure that reports from State and semi-State bodies under the aegis of his Department are made available to Oireachtas Members at the earliest opportunity rather than the present practice which means the Oireachtas Members may get such data many days after these reports have been publicly discussed and circulated; and if he will make the necessary representations to the bodies concerned.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Reports from State and Semi-State Bodies.
1.
It is the general practice that all reports emanating from the bodies under the aegis of my Department are formally laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas prior to publication. Additional copies of NESC, SDC and many CSO reports are also made available for general distribution to Members of both Houses. In other cases, additional copies can be made available free on request from Dáil and Seanad Members.
Might it be possible to have the extra copies made available to Members of the House earlier than has been the practice, to facilitate Members in making an intelligent assessment of the data contained in such reports? The report published last week on property taxation has still not been received by Members. I am not making a major point about it but I would appreciate it if Members of this House were deemed entitled to information at least at the time when it is publicly available to the press and commentators so that we can be involved in an exchange of ideas.
The normal practice is that reports are laid before the Oireachtas prior to general publication, possibly not much prior but at worst simultaneously with publication and sometimes well in advance. I am not aware of any major exception to this. I am not quite sure how best to help the Deputy. Information as to what is made available is in the Order Paper each day the Dáil meets, but of course that does not apply when the Dáil is not in session. I would be more than happy to consider any improvements in the present arrangements which Deputy Keating or other Deputies might like to suggest.
I would ask the Taoiseach to address himself to the question of the semi-State bodies. I raise this matter in support of Deputy Keating. I have here a list of 22 semi-State bodies and the average period which elapses between the end of the financial year and the date of their accounts ranges from four to seven months. In some cases it is up to seven months after the end of the financial year. By the time that information is laid before this House it may be 16 months after the financial year end of a company. By the time the information gets to the Joint Committee on State-Sponsored Bodies the data is historic and is of no practical value.
I wanted to let the Deputy conclude but he is continuing on. The question on the Order Paper concerns only bodies under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach.
Can we have an assurance from the Taoiseach that he will relay the concern expressed here to the companies involved and ask them to review the situation with a view to making relevant revisions in procedures so that information can be of benefit to the public through this House?
I will reply in a general way since it is a bit outside my brief. I accept the Deputy's concern in respect of the kind of time lag mentioned. I am not aware of the particular case but it certainly seems disturbing if the report is published 16 months after the accounts are prepared.
RTE.
In cases like that we shall certainly try to ensure more prompt publication. There has been a general improvement — in some cases from a very bad position indeed — in the publication of reports but we should set far better standards than the Deputy has indicated in that instance.