Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The key areas of responsibility of the Department of Foreign Affairs include foreign policy advice and co-ordination; promotion of Ireland’s economic interests abroad; management of Ireland’s development aid programme; and the provision of passport and consular services to Irish citizens.

The associated activities and running costs are funded under two separate Votes. Gross expenditure under Vote 28, Foreign Affairs, amounted to €266 million in 2019. Administration subheads accounted for 72% of that expenditure. The largest element of this was salary costs of some 1,745 staff which came to just under €102 million. Premises expenses of €35 million included costs associated with Ireland’s network of embassies and missions abroad. The bulk of the non-administrative expenses comprised annual contributions to a range of international organisations and grants to support services for Irish emigrants.

Receipts into the Vote comprised mainly fees related to the issue of passports and visas, and other consular services. These receipts were about €10.3 million or 17% above the level projected for the year. This was primarily due to a higher than expected level of passport applications in 2019.

A net surplus of just over €15.3 million was liable for surrender to the Exchequer at the year end. I issued a clear audit opinion for the account but drew attention to a significant level of non-compliant procurement in 2019 under the Vote.

Vote 27, International Co-operation, is administered by the Department’s development co-operation division. The Vote accounts for around 63% of Ireland’s official development assistance, which has a particular focus on states in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2019 appropriation account for the Vote records gross expenditure of nearly €544 million. A surplus of nearly €1.4 million was liable for surrender to the Exchequer. I issued a clear audit opinion for the Vote.

Chapter 8 from my Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2018 concerns Ireland’s programme of official development assistance and, in particular, the controls applied by the Department in respect of the humanitarian assistance funding it provides. I ask members to bear in mind that this report was completed in September 2019 and primarily uses 2018 data. The Accounting Officer will be able to provide updates on any relevant figures.

Humanitarian assistance is distinct from other development aid in that it is often reactive in nature, for example, in emergency situations, such as earthquakes, droughts, wars or political uncertainty resulting in refugee displacement. Such crises can be protracted and there may be a continuing need for humanitarian assistance over an extended period.

In 2018, which was the year of focus for this report, Ireland provided nearly €186 million in humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian assistance accounted for almost a quarter of Irish official development assistance that year. Given the level of humanitarian assistance expenditure, as well as the acute needs of intended beneficiaries, robust control and assurance procedures are key to ensuring that funds are used for the purposes intended and that positive results are achieved.

The conflict in Syria, and the resulting refugee crisis in many neighbouring countries, have been the focus of Ireland’s largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The majority of the funding is channelled through various UN agencies, International Red Cross partners, the World Food Programme and non-governmental organisations working in the region.

Depending on the circumstances, the Department may be more or less prescriptive about how the humanitarian assistance funding is to be used. Elements of funding may therefore be referred to as "earmarked", "softly earmarked" or "un-earmarked".

All of the Department’s development aid is now allocated, monitored and evaluated using a standard grant management procedure. The examination team found that the majority of controls had been appropriately applied by the Department in respect of three funding interventions for refugees inspected in Jordan.

The critical controls over unearmarked and softly earmarked funding are those applied at the partner identification stage. Once such grants have been awarded, the Department does not control how the funding is used by the recipient. It will typically receive a retrospective financial statement showing how the funding was applied, but that-----