Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 March 2020
478. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of supplier invoices which were processed by each Department and State body in each of the years 2013 to 2019 which received interest payments under the prompt payment of accounts legislation. [3842/20]
View answer480. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of supplier invoices which received both interest payments and compensation payments under the prompt payment of accounts legislation and which were processed by each Department and State body in each of the years 2013 to 2019. [3844/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 478 and 480 together.
The European Communities (Late Payment in in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 - S.I. No. 580 of 2012 gives legal effect to Directive 2011/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions.
Under these Regulations it is an implied term of every commercial transaction that where a purchaser does not pay for goods or services by the relevant payment date, the supplier shall be entitled to late payment interest on the amount outstanding.
The 2012 Regulations provide that public authorities must pay for goods and services they procure within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice or as specified in a contract (which cannot exceed 30 days). Failure to do so incurs the automatic payment of interest and compensation.
To promote compliance with the legislation, Government Departments and relevant public sector bodies are required to publish on their respective websites, their quarterly payment performance reports. Individual Government Departments are also required to publish the quarterly composite reports covering the bodies under their aegis.
Since 2013, my Department has been collating and publishing the composite quarterly returns by Central Government Departments of payments made to their suppliers. This information which is supplied by each Department relates to payments made to suppliers within 15 days and within 30 days. My Department has since April 2017 collected data on the number of payments incurring late payments interest and compensation.
The table below provides the number of supplier invoices which incurred late payment interest and compensation payments which were processed by each Department since April 2017. It also includes the number of supplier invoices incurring late payment interest and compensation payment processed by the bodies under the aegis of my Department in the period from April 2017 to December 2019.
|
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
|
|
Number of invoices |
Number of invoices |
Number of invoices |
|
Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
61 |
147 |
127 |
|
Business, Enterprise & Innovation |
153 |
131 |
56 |
|
Children & Youth Affairs |
17 |
41 |
44 |
|
Communications, Climate Action and Environment |
104 |
156 |
153 |
|
Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht |
29 |
67 |
55 |
|
Defence |
72 |
139 |
87 |
|
Education & Skills |
56 |
61 |
83 |
|
Employment Affairs & Social Protection |
57 |
72 |
41 |
|
Finance |
5 |
20 |
4 |
|
Foreign Affairs & Trade |
14 |
82 |
143 |
|
Health |
50 |
50 |
48 |
|
Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government |
43 |
41 |
54 |
|
Justice & Equality |
27 |
83 |
94 |
|
Public Expenditure & Reform |
11 |
39 |
29 |
|
Rural & Community Development |
0 |
33 |
12 |
|
Taoiseach |
6 |
21 |
12 |
|
Transport, Tourism & Sport |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bodies under the aegis of DBEI |
|
|
|
|
Enterprise Ireland |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Health & Safety Authority |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Industrial Development Agency |
5 |
123 |
302 |
|
Irish Auditing & Accounting Supervisory Authority |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
National Standards Authority of Ireland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Personal Injuries Assessment Board |
96 |
38 |
46 |
|
Science Foundation Ireland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
The Competition & Consumer Protection Commission |
0 |
3 |
11 |
