Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2004
47 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he has satisfied himself that the Comptroller and Auditor General has accurately assessed the financial procedures which were applied in the case of the Punchestown centre. [12921/04]
View answerThe Comptroller and Auditor General's Report on the Appropriations Accounts for 2002 states, with regard to the Punchestown centre, that proper tendering procedures were observed in connection with the placing of contracts and that the Department had satisfactory controls in place in relation to the processing of payment claims in terms of on-site inspections and detailed administrative checks. However, the report expresses concerns as to the adequacy of the evaluation carried out by the Department on the project, in particular, if it met the criteria set down in the 1994 guidelines issued by the Department of Finance for the evaluation of major capital projects.
I am satisfied that my Department applied procedures considered at the time to be appropriate for a project of this type. This was a once-off project; it did not easily fit the category of scheme normally administered by the Department. The project was not a normal type of grant proposal and was difficult to evaluate in terms of outputs and outturns and as such did not readily lend itself to being evaluated under the 1994 guidelines. The project was however carefully examined in the Department. It was examined against a number of criteria including the need for the facility, the suitability of Punchestown as a venue, whether other locations could be used and the likely events that would take place there. Before agreeing to fund the project, the Department was satisfied that the proposed investment was considered to represent an appropriate and justified use of the funds being provided.
The Comptroller and Auditor General said in his report, "The Audit established that proper tendering procedures were observed in connection with the placing of contracts, and that the Department had satisfactory controls in place in relation to the processing of payment claims in terms of site inspections and detailed administrative checks." As required by the 1994 guidelines, a post project review will be undertaken by my Department and, as required by the Committee of Public Accounts, presented to that committee by 30 March 2005.
