Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

No. 91, the Arts Council, received a clear audit opinion. One thing I wish to draw attention to here is that I signed the audit certificate on 24 June. It was only presented on 12 February 2025, which is well outside the directions of the Department of public expenditure for presentation. The normal expectation is that, within three months of certification, the accounts should be in the Oireachtas Library. The council received a clear audit opinion but I drew attention to the determination of the grants management system development. The original budget set for the project to develop the grants management system was €3 million, with an expected delivery date of the end of 2021. Work on the development of the system had cost €6.5 million to June 2024 when the project was discontinued. The overall loss of value in respect of the project to June 2024 is estimated at €5.3 million. The balance of €1.2 million is considered to be reusable in the implementation of an off-the-shelf grants management system.

No. 92, the National Economic and Social Development Office, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 93, Citizens Information Board, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 94, the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention in Tuam, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 95, the Legal Aid Board, received a clear audit opinion, but I drew attention to a material level of procurement non-compliance to a total of €2.2 million.

No. 96, the National Gallery of Ireland, received a clear audit opinion, but I drew attention to ineffective expenditure on an X-ray system purchased in 2017 at a cost of €125,000. The gallery had no suitable location in its premises to accommodate safe operation of the system.

No. 97, the Criminal Assets Bureau, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 98, the Western Development Commission, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 99, the National Concert Hall, received a clear audit opinion. In that case, there was a somewhat late submission of the financial statements, which the committee might wish to pursue with it.

No. 100, the Commission for Railway Regulation, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 101, An Coimisinéir Teanga, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 102, Sport Ireland, received a clear audit opinion. I drew attention, which may be of interest to the committee, to the sports energy support scheme run by Sport Ireland where funding of €35 million was received from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in 2022 to provide additional financial support to the sports sector. A total of €6 million of the funding was unused and refunded to the Department in 2023. However, a further €8.4 million, which had been advanced to sporting bodies, was recouped and refunded to the Department before the end of 2024. It was found they did not require that funding for energy expenditure.

No. 103, Sport Ireland Facilities Designated Activity Company, which is a subsidiary of Sport Ireland, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 104, Fís Éireann, or Screen Ireland, received a clear audit opinion.

No. 105, Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board, received a clear audit opinion.

Finally, and gratefully, I am sure, No. 106, Inland Fisheries Ireland, received a clear audit opinion. However, I drew attention to the circumstances where resignations of two chairpersons of the board in April 2022 and January 2023, along with a further four resignations from the board during 2022 and in January 2023 left it unable to reach the required quorum. The Minister removed the remaining board members on a no-fault basis in February 2023 and appointed two persons to perform the functions of Inland Fisheries Ireland pending the reconstitution of the board. A new board was appointed by the Minister on 16 January 2024. I also drew attention to significant internal control matters that resulted in the commissioning of a number of reviews and reports. The current status of those were disclosed in the statement of internal control. Related to that, I am just about to complete a report examining some of those internal control issues. I will have more to present to the committee on that.