Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

You asked last week, Chairman, about delays in the submission of the 2010 financial statements from two county enterprise boards. They were south Dublin county and Galway city and county. As I indicated last week they had been certified during 2011 and we did not receive a clear explanation for the delays in submitting them. The process is that the county enterprise boards send their accounts, usually with the annual report on their activities to Enterprise Ireland, which then sends them on to the Department, which then submits them to the Oireachtas. The practice in some of the county enterprise boards of submitting the two documents together – the financial statements and the performance report – is probably the main reason for delays. As we understand it, Enterprise Ireland received those two sets of financial statements earlier this year, one set in January and one set in April and there has not been too much delay since they were received there in coming to the Oireachtas.