Vol. 547 No. 1
110 Mr. Spring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has satisfied herself that all EU funded projects are being administered in a method which is fully acceptable to the European Commission; and if the financial control unit in her Department is also satisfied with the procedures in place. [1826/02]
My Department is the national paying authority for the European Social Fund, ESF, in Ireland for the period 2000-06. It is also the managing authority for the Employment and Human Resources Development Operational Programme and for the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme, both co-funded by the ESF and the Productive Sector Operational Programme, which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF.
Under Article 5 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 438/2001 of 3 March 2001, concerning the management and control systems for assistance granted under the Structural Funds, each member state is required to notify the Commission of the detailed management and control systems and procedures in place at each level for the financial management of the each of the four Structural Funds. As the paying authority for the European Social Fund, my Department has supplied the Commission with the detailed procedures being implemented throughout the financial control cascade in so far as the ESF is concerned. In drawing up the financial management and control procedures for the ESF, my Department followed the requirements of the above mentioned regulation and all other relevant EU regulations and national statutory requirements and worked closely with the functionally independent national ESF financial control unit.
The European Commission has informally signalled its satisfaction with the procedures we have in place. However, in an effort to ensure that the highest operating standards apply, my Department has invited the Commission to come to Ireland to take a detailed look at the systems in place throughout the financial control cascade, that is, from paying authority down to the level of final recipient of funding, in so far as the ESF is concerned. This audit is now expected to take place in the first quarter of 2002. In the interim, my Department has asked the ESF financial control unit to conduct a preventive systems audit on the relevant areas of my Department. This will take place over the coming weeks. Should any gaps or deficiencies become apparent during that audit, immediate steps will be taken to address the situation.
In relation to projects co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Productive Sector Operational Programme, my Department has provided details of the management and control procedures in place at each level to the Department of Finance, which is the national paying authority for the European Regional Development Fund.
