asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if he will indicate the progress, if any, made since his reply to a parliamentary question on 7 April 1987 in ensuring that all State bodies under his aegis comply with the new requirements in regard to their annual reports under each major heading of the new requirements.
Written Answers. - Annual Reports of State Bodies.
40.
Considerable progress has been made by my Department in implementing the decision in relation to reports and accounts of State bodies, announced by the Government on 16 December 1986. The decision pertained to three main areas, relating to:
annual reports and accounts
annual and interim unaudited accounts
audit committees
As far as annual reports and accounts are concerned, the format of each State body's annual report has been reviewed by the Department in conjunction with the State body. Revised formats of annual reports and accounts are being submitted by the State bodies for consideration by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Finance. It is my intention that this review be progressed swiftly so that the necessary changes can be introduced in annual reports for financial years commencing after 31 March 1987. Furthermore, I have been pressing to ensure that the six month publication requirement is met by the bodies under my aegis, though I should point out that a number of the bodies have indeed been meeting this deadline in recent years.
On the issue of unaudited management accounts, the four commercial State bodies under my aegis are submitting such accounts to me on a regular basis. As regards the non-commercial State bodies, the matter of unaudited management accounts has been under active consideration.
Finally, as regards the establishment of audit committees within the State bodies, again such committees are already in place for the four commercial State bodies under my aegis, and are under consideration for the non-commercial State bodies.