Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 21 June 2018

Public Accounts Committee

Business of Committee

9:00 am

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Aylward knows that it was 18 years ago. There is enough to do at the moment. We will move on and return it with that covering note, explaining those two points.

The next item is statements and accounts received since the previous meeting. The first one is a clear audit opinion on Dublin City University and the usual issue around the third pension funding in the public sector. That is normal.

The next item is a clear audit opinion from the Commission for Communications Regulation.

The next item is from the Health Information Quality Authority, HIQA. A qualified opinion has been given because of its retirement benefit entitlements, which are only met as they become payable. That is a regular issue arising in respect of public sector bodies concerning payment for pensions.

The next item is the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, ETB. It should be remembered that these are the accounts for 2015, so they are a bit behind times. We highlighted last year that there was a specific problem with this ETB. Attention is drawn to the disclosure in the statement of internal control. An invoice redirection fraud on the board in November 2017 resulted in the loss of an estimated €246,000. That is shocking. We have to write to the ETB for a fully detailed report as to how that happened. There is also a question of weakness in the board's control regarding accumulated PLC fee income and bank accounts. There is a further on the delays in finalising the financial statements in 2015 due to changes in senior personnel in the ETB. We were made aware of that in public here last year when the ETB appeared before the committee. We need to write to the ETB for a detailed note about that loss of €246,000 and the invoice redirection fraud. I do not know anything about it, so I believe we need detailed information about it.

The next item is the Clare and Limerick ETB. It has supplied its audit opinion and, again, there is a level of non-compliance with national procurement guidelines. We will have to come back to that issue across the entirety of the public service because it is cropping up every week.

The next item is from Waterford Institute of Technology for the year ending 31 August 2016. Attention is drawn to the going-concern status of the institute, which had an accumulated deficit of €4.4 million to the end of August 2016 and which did not provide for pension benefits in the financial statements. That is normal, but the issue of the deficit still arises. The accounts were prepared on the basis that the institute will continue to receive State funding. That is probably a reasonable assumption. However, the Comptroller and Auditor General cannot give a cast-iron guarantee that that will happen. He has to draw attention to the fact that this place can only continue to trade if it continues to get funding.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.