Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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We will agree to note it. The Deputy is happy to note that.

That is correspondence received. The next item is on reports and statements of account received since the last meeting. I will open up this particular topic by acknowledging a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General was published on this issue during the week, that is, Special Report No. 95, financial reporting in the public sector. It was published on 21 February 2017. It was completed by the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of the timeliness of financial reporting in the public sector. Most public sector bodies are required to have their accounts prepared within three months. Two thirds of all bodies missed that deadline. That is 200 out of approximately 300. We are not talking about the direct line Departments, which meet the deadlines for annual audit and the appropriations account.

It is to do with the bodies and I have therefore asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to produce a list of those on a Department-by-Department basis to see which Departments are the principal offenders. We will then call in those Accounting Officers. The Department of Health one, due to the establishment of the ETBs, was a set-up situation so there are understandably quite a lot of delays in that area. Notwithstanding that, the education sector has been a particular problem. I do not believe the Accounting Officers have paid sufficient attention to this area. They come in looking for money for public bodies every year and they have no idea why they are not in the audited accounts that have already been submitted in respect of prior years. Our committee will be putting down a marker on that. It is directly related to the report, Financial Reporting in the Public Sector, which was published only two days ago.

The Comptroller and Auditor General might say a few brief words on this topic to which we will return as we have a special report on it. We will not discuss it today but I just want to highlight it.