Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the total amount of moneys owed to private firms by public bodies under the remit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46481/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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It is assumed that the Deputy is referring in this case to unpaid invoices in relation to supplies of goods and services. The non-payroll budget for the Justice Sector is in the region of €555 million per annum. While it is very difficult to derive a specific figure at a particular point in time due to the number and range of payments I can assure the Deputy that every effort is made to pay invoices within a reasonable timescale once the necessary verification checks have been carried out. The vast majority of payments across the sector are in compliance with the Prompt Payment of Interest regulations in that payments are made within 30 days and in many cases in far less a timescale than this. In response to a question from the Deputy on 11th November (Ref 42273/10), I indicated that in respect of the quarter ended 30th September 2010, for the Department of Justice and Law Reform, 85% of payments (€28.3 million in monetary terms) were made within 15 calendar days and 98% of all payments within 30 calendar days. I can confirm that on average these figures are reflective of the trend, currently, throughout the Justice Sector.