Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I would like to make one correction to what the Chairman said. The obligation is to present the appropriation account. This, per se, is on page 7 and effectively the statement of moneys provided and the outturn which is compared with that of the previous year. The practice we have adopted over the years is that we require the account to be presented to us. Our audit process is a process of verification of what has been presented. If we find at any stage that there is a figure in the appropriation account which is incorrect, we will ask the Accounting Officer personally to re-sign the new appropriation account with a current date. However, in the course of an audit we may find that the explanations of variances are inadequate or the disclosures insufficient. In that situation we go back to the Department – in this case An Garda Síochána – and say it needs to make this adjustment, that it is not explaining it properly or that a figure in a note needs to be amended. We do not require the Accounting Officer to re-sign in that situation. Similarly, if there are changes in the statement of internal financial control, we will say to the Department that it must put in something extra because there is a breach of controls not noted in the account and that it is appropriate to bring it to the attention of the committee by disclosing it in the statement of internal financial control. We have not insisted on the Accounting Officer re-signing. Physically, the Accounting Officer did not re-sign and backdate it. It would have been noted by the executive director of finance.