Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I think I tried to be as comprehensive in the note as possible. It arose from queries by Deputy Ross about how many sets of financial statements do not meet the requirement of submission within six months of the end of the financial year. We have gone through the requirements in regard to all sets of financial statements that we audit. That includes the appropriation accounts which have a completion date of the end of September. On departmental funds, there are a variety of legal requirements and none, in some cases. There are practical reasons they have to be done together with an appropriation account, and therefore they move in lockstep.

There are 229 State bodies which are subject to the six-month rule specified in the code of practice. As I said at the last meeting, we prioritise the ones with the larger turnover values. At the end of June we had completed the audit of 71 of those bodies.