Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

There are 41 accounts included in the Appropriation Accounts so the list is significantly longer than is suggested there. One matter to which I draw attention in my report is an excess Vote in regard to Army pensions. It is a relatively technical matter. The Dáil voted a certain level of expenditure and the Department exceeded it by a small amount in the region of €23,000 to €26,000. A specific procedure called the excess Vote procedure is required in such a situation, whereby the committee considers the circumstances of the excess Vote and sends a message to the Oireachtas and the Minister for Finance. If the Minister proposes that an excess Vote be taken, it legitimises that additional expenditure.

The circumstances were that the audit discovered payments in the year that had been charged to suspense and not the Appropriation Account. When they are taken into account, the expenditure was over what was permitted. It is a relatively technical point. To my mind, there is no significant matter but a process has to be gone through. I propose to work with the clerk to have a paper for the committee next week with a view to putting that process in place.