Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2018
198. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps he is taking to implement the actions outlined in chapter 3 of the Budget Statement 2019 Expenditure Report relating to the responsibilities of Accounting Officers, the management and monitoring of voted allocations by Dáil Éireann and control mechanisms on public expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49480/18]
View answerA number of actions have taken place since the publication of the Expenditure Report and there are plans in place for further reforms in the area of reporting and accountability into next year and beyond.
Ireland requested support under the European Commission Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) to advance central Government financial reporting reforms. An OECD team visited Ireland in September 2018 and conducted an assessment of the central Government Accounting Framework with the aim of identifying a road map for the implementation of financial reporting reforms. The OECD assessment includes a gap analysis between the current accounting framework and international best practice and accounting standards. The OECD's final report and recommendations for phased implementation of financial reporting reforms is due by end 2018. OECD will present the main findings and recommendations of its report in a second mission planned for January 2019. I anticipate that the implementation of this road map may also have implications for corporate governance standards and arrangements in relation to public financial management and accountability, and my Department will be keeping this area under active review in this context.
As discussed in the Expenditure Report and the Mid-Year Expenditure Report, there is a spending review process currently underway that will continue beyond 2018. The spending review looks at the trends, sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of specific spending programmes with the goal of ensuring that public money is used in the most efficient way possible. The spending review in 2018 highlighted necessary improvements to date in identifying data gaps and the scope to further improve and identify performance metrics and indicators. A further spending review cycle will commence in 2019, where the monitoring and improvement in performance will once again be core to the review.
Work is also well underway on revisions to aspects of the Public Spending Code, in particular the technical parameters for expenditure appraisal, and it is intended to finalise these revisions and update the Public Spending Code accordingly.
