Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Question:176 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Finance his views on the report of the working group on the accountability of Secretaries General and Accounting Officers, released in January 2003. [5396/03]
Written Answers - Departmental Staff.
I established a high level working group in 2000 to examine the authority, responsibility and accountability of Secretaries General and Accounting Officers in relation to financial management within the overall strategic management initiative. The group's report, presented to me last year, made a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening governance arrangements in Government Departments and offices, to be implemented according to a recommended timeframe. Following receipt of the report, I recommended to the Government that its recommendations should be accepted and that the report should be published and the recommendations implemented by Departments and offices. The Government decided accordingly and I published the report on 9 January 2003. I also sent copies of the report to the Committee of Public Accounts and to the Clerks of the Dáil and Seanad in view of the suggestion made in the report about the role of Oireachtas committees in evaluating departmental strategy statements and the performance of Secretaries General. My Department has established a steering group representative of all Departments and offices to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of the report's recommendations. This group has had its first meeting and will be meeting regularly to see the recommendations through to implementation.