Section 34 of the Nurse and Midwives Act 2011 provides that the Chief Executive Officer, under the direction of the Board, shall keep proper books of income and expenditure, and of property assets and liabilities of the Board. The Chief Executive Officer shall account to the Board for such accounts as the Board or Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, direct they should be kept.
The Chief Executive with the approval of the Board is required no later than 3 months from the end of each financial year to submit the accounts for audit to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Following issue of an audit certificate from the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Board is required, not later than a month, to give the Minister a copy of the certificate and the audit report.
The Board is required no later than three months from receipt of the audit certificate to print and publish the accounts. On publication of the accounts with the certificate the report should be laid before each of the Houses of the Oireachtas.