Departmental Funding

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Ceisteanna (106)

John McGuinness

Ceist:

106. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Defence the amount of funding allocated by his Department to organisations not audited directly by the Comptroller and Auditor General; the names of these organisations; the amount of funding allocated to each over the past five years; the process in place to ensure that value for money is achieved and that the funding allocated is audited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38667/15]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Defence

My Department provides funding to a number of organisations, both nationally and internationally, which are not audited directly by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Details of these organisations and the associated funding provided is as follows:

Irish Red Cross

Year	Amount
2010	€951,000
2011	€951,000
2012	€869,000
2013	€869,000
2014	€869,000

In each of these years, the total amount paid includes the Government’s annual contribution of €130,000 to the International Committee of the Irish Red Cross. The balance goes towards the salary and administration costs of running the headquarters of the Irish Red Cross Society. The payment of my Department’s annual grant to the Society is kept under review on an ongoing basis. The annual grant is paid in quarterly instalments and each year my Department receives a report from the Society providing full details of how the grant was utilised in the previous year and details of how it is to be used in the current year. The annual consolidated financial statements of the Society, which are published on its website, are subject to audit by an independent external firm of auditors whose report is also published. I am satisfied that the grant paid by my Department is properly accounted for and is used for the purposes for which it is granted.

Civil Defence

Civil Defence operations at local level are carried out under the control of the relevant local authority. Funding for Civil Defence operations is shared on a 70/30 basis between the Department of Defence and local authorities by way of an annual grant to each authority. The grant covers all allowable administration and running costs for Civil Defence in each local authority.

The annual grant is issued following a detailed examination of certified financial returns from the local authority on the previous year’s expenditure. Discretionary grants are also issued to local authorities from time to time towards the purchase of vehicles and equipment. Such grants are based on a business case and are subsequently paid on the basis of vouched expenditure.

The external auditor for Local Government includes a check on the Civil Defence grants as part of its annual audit agenda. The table below shows the total amount of funding allocated to local authorities over the past five years.

Department of Defence funding to Local Authorities for Civil Defence

Local Authority	2010 €	2011 €	2012 €	2013 €	2014 €
Carlow	54,568.30	74,153.81	60,931.65	49,855.69	80,451.54
Cavan	76,594.84	85,975.99	65,941.41	64,369.12	92,850.74
Clare	92,255.46	101,822.54	96,648.41	87,924.45	112,755.27
Cork City	83,721.37	73,361.47	88,608.13	76,228.70	87,510.60
Cork County	230,122.99	256,061.79	179,067.41	199,281.51	263,720.45
Donegal	80,753.86	87,032.72	75,907.78	74,825.69	79,369.16
Dublin City	402,131.24	356,461.08	408,702.79	382,817.71	443,698.16
Galway	104,801.69	93,373.48	89,695.60	100,154.46	109,686.79
Kerry	117,145.93	114,589.49	104,454.49	107,532.45	127,259.72
Kildare	103,976.66	100,777.21	88,897.24	86,890.82	136,978.52
Kilkenny	66,602.99	50,595.81	62,058.73	65,173.17	66,076.42
Laois	78,531.40	88,337.77	92,489.58	78,517.62	90,640.44
Leitrim	143,240.58	67,429.87	81,123.78	83,222.69	128,338.34
Limerick City	87,510.24	75,415.40	65,453.75	75,583.49	82,044.75
Limerick County	125,008.77	127,044.32	111,663.49	113,092.03	124,316.58
Longford	73,768.75	58,009.86	56,283.54	56,400.45	79,422.35
Louth	91,646.21	97,155.05	82,790.90	85,040.46	85,707.70
Mayo	92,387.88	95,526.60	76,383.22	96,315.68	83,290.28
Meath	198,199.23	131,036.29	139,986.57	125,230.02	140,016.72
Monaghan	102,307.53	80,323.72	94,469.29	102,435.07	110,017.72
Offaly	84,995.90	98,041.58	84,938.46	83,887.03	105,551.79
Roscommon	83,666.86	85,008.89	70,955.31	69,365.77	73,434.94
Sligo	93,268.31	73,244.36	99,561.64	73,101.51	79,093.69
Tipperary North	76,271.53	96,791.71	94,618.17	115,366.73	67,371.26
Tipperary South	106,564.63	109,256.57	110,861.81	86,130.72	96,653.70
Waterford City	87,159.06	93,175.45	83,683.99	81,129.33	107,612.11
Waterford County	81,003.64	73,984.06	77,755.37	75,541.75	86,292.25
Westmeath	89,571.90	90,924.25	93,092.05	83,967.13	105,203.72
Wexford	103,605.14	109,962.13	113,798.65	96,181.32	104,473.87
Wicklow	74,676.77	67,840.72	80,934.06	115,195.26	84,283.49
Totals	3,286,059.66	3,112,713.99	3,031,757.27	2,990,757.83	3,434,123.07

Other national organisations

Year	Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA)	Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO)	Reserve Defence Forces Representative Association (RDFRA)	Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women (ONE)	Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA)	Military History Society of Ireland
2010	€52,694.13	€0	€68,568.00	€40,000	€10,000	€5,308
2011	€52,694.13	€0	€68,568.00	€40,000	€10,000	€5,578
2012	€52,694.13	€0	€68,568.00	€40,000	€10,000	€2,442
2013	€52,694.13	€21,879.12	€68,568.00	€40,000	€10,000	€7,980
2014	€52,694.13	€47,535.00	€68,568.00	€40,000	€10,000	€5,111

In accordance with agreed arrangements under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme, the Department provides the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) and the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA) with annual subventions. The Reserve Defence Forces Representative Association (RDFRA) is provided with office accommodation and also receives an annual subvention.

A condition of the grants/subventions to ONE and IUNVA is the annual submission of audited accounts to my Department. Monies paid to the Military History Society of Ireland are paid on a vouched basis.

International Organisations

Agency Funding	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
(1) European Defence Agency (EDA)	€315,760.00	€284,036.55	€451,145.78	€268,398.99	€363,161.90
(2) European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC)	€75,772.26	€70,310.25	€64,798.31	€63,380.25	€72,093.74
(3) Athena Special Committee	€208,349.04	€228,473.52	€173,466.42	€496,260.05	€759,717.26

(1) The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an EU Agency which falls under the authority of the Council of the EU. Council Decision 2004/551/CFSP provided for the creation of the EDA in 2004 to assist EU Member States to develop their defence capabilities for crisis-management operations under the Common Security & Defence Policy (CSDP) and is audited by the EDA’s College of Auditors.

(2) The European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) is an agency of the Council of the European Union dedicated to the exploitation and production of information derived from the analysis of earth observation space imagery in support of the EU’s decision making in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Council Decision 2014/401/CFSP on the EUSC (repeals Joint Action 2001/555/CFSP on the establishment of the EUSC) lays out the financial and budgetary principles for the agency.

(3) The Athena Special Committee is a working body of the EU Council which administers the financing of EU CSDP military operations. Pursuant to the European Union Council Decision 2011/871/CFSP (repealed and replaced by the Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/528 of March 2015) the Athena College of Auditors, comprising six members appointed from national audit bodies, audit the consolidated financial statements of the Athena Mechanism and its operations/missions and exercises in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards.