Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 October 2004
27 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Finance the action he proposes to take on foot of the findings of the annual report for 2003 of the Comptroller and Auditor General in so far as they affect his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24826/04]
View answerTwo parts of the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for 2003 relate directly to my Department. Action has been taken on both.
In chapter 2 of the report, about returning officers' expenses, the main concerns raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General were about delays in the Department's checking of accounts received and about ensuring that returning officers submit their accounts in time. As regards checking of accounts, my Department has assigned significant resources to eliminating the backlog. Almost all the accounts mentioned by the Comptroller and Auditor General as unchecked at end 2003 have been examined. The majority of these have been settled and queries have been raised with the relevant returning officers on the rest. The remaining few are being worked on.
As regards outstanding accounts, it is the responsibility of returning officers to ensure the timely submission of their accounts. However, my Department wrote some months ago to all returning officers with outstanding accounts stressing that they should be submitted without delay, and reminders have been issued as appropriate. More than half of the outstanding accounts have been received. All of these either have been examined, with the majority settled and queries raised on the rest, or are being worked on. The remaining outstanding accounts have been promised within a further short period.
As regards the June 2004 elections and referendum, the accounts for which are due by mid-December, my Department inserted a new provision in the charges order made in advance of those elections to enable returning officers to pay for any support necessary to facilitate the timely submission of their accounts.
Chapter 6 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report outlines the factors contributing to a small excess vote — some €25,000 — for 2003 for the Office of the Ombudsman. My Department carries out a number of financial functions on behalf of that office and the problems encountered stemmed from the introduction of a new shared financial management system in 2003. A number of steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence. In the Department these include checklists to ensure that tasks are carried out in a timely way and, as an interim measure, a manual work around for the relevant part of the new system pending installation of an appropriate system modification, a matter which is under discussion with the Department's technical advisers.
The circumstances of this excess vote and of the other excess vote for 2003, in the Civil Service Commission, were examined by the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts on 7 October and the committee indicated that it saw no objection to the excess sums being sanctioned by the Dáil by means of excess Votes. A formal interim report from the committee is awaited.
