Vol. 528 No. 1
1 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on the comments in the 1999 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding expenditure on the millennium celebrations and, particularly, the finding in a significant number of cases that adequate evidence was not obtained that the expenditure on which grants were claimed had been incurred and that grant moneys were applied for purposes for which they were not approved. [21933/00]
2 Mr. Noonan asked the Taoiseach the cost of all millennium projects funded by the Government; if all outstanding payments in respect of these projects have now been settled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27979/00]
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.
Does the Minister of State agree that the advent of the millennium hardly came as a surprise to this or any other Government and that, accordingly, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General is a damning indictment of the sloppiness and carelessness with which traditional procedures have been adhered to? Can he assure the House that moneys did not go astray, that where there are still gaps to be closed they will be properly closed and that a comprehensive report will be given, not to the Committee of Public Accounts, but by him to this House, to which he is accountable? This is not concerned with routine expenditure in the traditional way; funding was voted upon in this House and action taken on foot of that is directly answerable to the House.
I have no difficulty in answering questions on this at any time. No moneys have gone astray.
How does the Minister of State know that?
The Comptroller and Auditor General and the Accounting Officer have clearly indicated such in the file before me. I read into the record of the House that no State funds were placed at risk at any time, that procedures were followed, the committee approved all expenditure and the Cabinet subsequently approved all expenditure.
The criticisms of the Comptroller and Auditor General have been taken on board. The assessment was done at a time when there was enormous pressure on the Millennium Office, which had a very small staff. It was not a surprise, given the extra workload on the staff, many of whom had extra duties to attend. The pace of activity accelerated more quickly than we anticipated. I accept the criticism that we did not commence work quickly enough in the early part of last year. However, we increased our efforts very substantially and the events planned were very useful. The people enjoyed them.
I do not believe that the Accounting Officer in my Department or any of the supervising officials engaged in sloppy procedures. At no stage does the Comptroller and Auditor General refer to these. He refers to one or two instances where they should have been more careful with documentation, but these were totally cleared up. Nothing else was involved there.
The officials involved followed the procedures as best they could. I have repeatedly said that last year was an unprecedented year – there are no files dealing with previous millennium cel ebrations. Many of the procedures and events the committee became involved in were, by definition, once off.
As Minister of State designated with responsibility for millennium projects, does he agree in retrospect that by comparison with the celebrations in cities all over the world, those in Dublin were a damp squib if not a total fiasco? Does he also agree that it has added insult to injury to find that the taxpayers were ripped off, that money dedicated to some projects was not spent on them and that money was or may have been drawn down for purposes which were never intended? As Minister of State responsible, does he agree to attend the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service to explain what happened and why the Comptroller and Auditor General is of the belief that proper accounting practices were not followed and that taxpayers' money may have gone astray?
It would be a good opportunity for me to attend the joint committee and explain what a success the millennium year celebrations were.
Is that a yes?
Of course. I would be delighted to attend the joint committee. I would point out to it that it is inaccurate to suggest, as the Deputy does, that funds allocated to projects were not spent on them. There is no example of that and the Comptroller and Auditor General makes no reference to it in the file. The procedures of the committee and the Cabinet were followed fully in respect of every penny of millennium funds. All funds have been spent on projects for which they were allocated. In case an impression is created to the contrary, the procedures of the committee and the Cabinet were followed for every penny of millennium funds. I would be delighted to go before the committee and point out that we spent £9 million on environmental projects and £7 million on social projects for the elderly, the disadvantaged, the homeless and for children. We have put £6 million into 2,000 locally funded community projects around the country and almost £4 million into supporting concerts, theatres, school projects, arts and education. We have given £2 million for Christian church functions, flood lighting for churches and so on, £2 million in recognition of the role of the Irish diaspora and more than £2 million for the celebrations.
I agree that a great deal of money has been spent.
I would be delighted to go before the committee and explain that those were investments in the future of Ireland at the turn of the century.
I draw the attention of the Minister of State to the second conclusion in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report which states that the findings indicate that in a significant number of cases—
The Deputy cannot quote during Question Time.
I am not quoting; I am just assisting my memory. He stated that in a significant number of cases adequate evidence was not obtained that the expenditure on which grants were claimed had been incurred and that grant moneys were applied for the purposes for which they were approved. That report is in the public domain. If the Minister of State is referring to private conversations he has since had with the Comptroller and Auditor General, he cannot say what he said in his first reply to me that he is absolutely sure that money did not go astray. The Comptroller and Auditor General's second conclusion says it is wide open and we do not know. Until such time as he gets the receipts and vouchers, the Minister of State is not in a position to stand over the claim he made in his first reply.
I am in a position to do that because those matters have been fully checked by officials in the millennium office and by the appropriate accounting officer since the Comptroller and Auditor General's report was finished. It has been ascertained that there is full documentation to support every payment. What the Comptroller and Auditor General meant was that when money was allocated to Dublin Corporation for the boardwalk, for example, the millennium office did not have the opportunity because of the pressure of work, speed and so on to ensure that Dublin Corporation had invoices for what it subsequently spent the money on. There was no doubt in the accounting officer's mind that everything was bona fide and that subsequently turned out to be the case after the Comptroller and Auditor General's report was finished. All those matters were checked since the report was finished and everything was found to be 100% in order.
Can I take it then that, contrary to expectations, all the moneys allocated by the Minister of State's Department for the boardwalk project, to which the Minister of State referred and which will not be completed by the end of this year, have already been vouched for or are in the process of being vouched for and that the normal administrative procedures are now in place? Is that what the Minister of State is saying in his report to the Committee of Public Accounts? Is it intended that a second Comptroller and Auditor General's report will be undertaken or is this his final word on the expenditures under the Minister of State's control?
I do not know if a second Comptroller and Auditor General's report is anticipated. That is a matter for the Comptroller and Auditor General. He will be welcome to look at it. I confirm that all the procedures have been followed on the boardwalk project and all the documentation is in place. The accounting officer in the Department is fully satisfied that everything is in place. My information is that the boardwalk will be open before the end of this year.
Is the millennium committee which was set up to assist the Minister of State still in place? What resignations have there been from it and what were the reasons for the resignations?
The committee is still in place. It has not had many meetings recently because we have been tidying up the project. I do not know what procedure we will use to close it down. Perhaps we might have a night out. There have been two resignations. Mr. Duffy resigned some time last year in the early part of our project.
In dubious circumstances.
The member from Northern Ireland, Monica McWilliams, retired some time last year due to pressure of work. Other than that, I have not had any resignations from the committee.
What was the reason for Mr. Duffy's resignation?
That was dealt with last year in the House. I do not have a briefing on that matter at present.
There is something about a conflict of interest.
Deputy Rabbitte, a brief supplementary question, please.
Is it true the candles were imported?
Yes, a large number were imported.
What proportion was imported? Could we not source them in Ireland or did the millennium creep up on us?
The contract was awarded to Rathbornes, the oldest candle makers in the State who go back many centuries. They were not able to manufacture the required number of candles, therefore, they imported a sizeable proportion of them.
