Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 23 Oct 1996

Vol. 470 No. 5

Written Answers. - Export Refund Securities.

Michael McDowell

Ceist:

34 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the current situation in relation to the £30 million in securities held by his Department, some or all of which must be forfeit due to breaches of export refund regulations, in view of the revelations in the most recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General that there were further EU disallowances against Ireland for unsatisfactory control over securities and inadequate proofs of arrival relative to his Department's administration of beef export refunds. [19425/96]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. Yates)

As I informed the Deputy's party colleague, Deputy O'Malley, during the Adjournment debate on 2 October last, £30 million of export refund securities relating to the trade of one company in the late 1980s is the subject of a confidential investigation. The specific disallowances to which the Deputy refers is a different issue. They were imposed as part of the clearance of the 1991 EAGGF account.

Since 1991 additional resources, both staff, systems and computerisation, have been devoted to the beef export refund area resulting in significant upgrading of administrative and technical control exercised both by my Department and Customs. This investment has shown positive results. Disallowances on the 1992 account amounted to just £76,000 out of an expenditure of £124 million — 0.06 per cent of the total. Furthermore, following a more recent intensive systems audit of prefinancing beef export refund expenditure amounting to £428 million, indications from the European Commission are that no disallowances are to be proposed.