asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement regarding the allegations concerning the Stationery Office where stock-taking carried out on 31 December 1985 disclosed large deficiencies in the stocks of certain types of paper alleged to amount to £100,000 which could not be reconciled thus involving a Garda investigation; if he will outline the internal controls in operation then and now; and the action in this case.
Written Answers. - Stock-Taking Controls.
41.
The stock-take carried out in the Stationery Office as at 31 December 1985 revealed net deficiencies in paper stocks of £84,000. These stocks had been located in lock-up warehouses at the North Wall to which the Stationery Office, through lack of adequate storage space in Beggars Bush, had been obliged to transfer part of its paper stocks in 1981. The Garda were immediately notified of the discrepancies and an investigation commenced which is still on-going.
At the time of the discovery of these discrepancies, it had been expected that the new purpose-built warehouse at Bishop Street would have been completed by mid-1986 and ready to accommodate all the paper and other stocks located in the main warehouse in Beggars Bush and the North Wall. It became obvious during the early months of 1986 that completion and fitting out of the new warehouse would not be completed until 1987.
Because of this the management of the office decided that a series of intermittent spot checks of some of the paper codes would be taken for so long as it was necessary to continue using the North Wall premises. Additional security measures were also introduced. Full interim stock-taking involving the examination of as many as 500 stock lines in both the North Wall and Beggars Bush warehouses was impossible. One such spot check undertaken in May 1986 revealed further discrepancies.
The management of the Stationery Office decided that because of the continuing discrepancies which had been revealed, the fact that the Garda investigations were not completed and the general unsuitability of the North Wall warehouse for paper stocks, the premises would be vacated forthwith and the stocks transferred to Bishop Street in advance of the completion of the building. To do this it was necessary to secure urgent delivery of special pallets and stillages and to strength test both to accommodate the paper on the racking system in Bishop Street. The stock transfer was completed in early July 1986. An interim stock take was carried out at that time.
The general stock-take as at end December 1986 revealed further losses of £38,000. A comparison of the position then with the position in July showed that these discrepancies occurred while the stocks were in the North Wall premises.
The spot checks initiated in 1986 will continue in Bishop Street until such time as Beggars Bush is vacated later this year and the total stocks are organised in Bishop Street. At that stage it is intended that stock-takes will take place at quarterly intervals and spot checks at monthly intervals. Computerisation of the office by October next will greatly facilitate the task not only of stock-takes but of stock management.