Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 June 2010
282 Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Minister for Transport the details and outcome of the review by his Department’s governance support division of compliance by State bodies that come under its remit with the code of practice, in particular to name the State bodies that have not achieved full compliance; the reason for same: the action taken by his Department; the results of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23000/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraState Bodies are required to comply with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies published by the Department of Finance. The Code was last updated in May 2009 and all State Bodies under the remit of the Department were provided with the updated Code.
The Department formally reviews compliance by State Bodies with the Code of Practice on an annual basis.
The last review was carried out in late 2009. It found that in general the level of the compliance with the Code was good. However, the review noted some areas where full compliance had not been achieved in addition to some areas of concern. The main areas of non-compliance related to:
the nature of internal audit arrangements in place by the port companies and whether these complied fully with the requirements in the Code (all port companies with the exception of Shannon Foynes Port Company),
the absence of updated annual rolling Business / Corporate Plan (Marine Casualty Investigation Board and CIE),
the non-disclosure of chief executive pay in annual accounts (Drogheda Port Company and Dundalk Port Company),
the delay in finalisation and publication of annual reports and accounts (Arklow Harbour Authority, NRA),
the non-completion of accounts (Wexford Harbour Authority),
Outstanding tax liability (Kinsale Harbour Commissioners)
A follow-up review earlier this year on these issues found that the issues had been finalised or were being progressed.
