Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I will briefly make a couple of points. While the 2016 appropriation account for the Vote for An Garda Síochána is not formally for examination in this morning’s meeting, it does provide a context for consideration of the issues dealt with in the internal audit report.

The Accounting Officer’s statement on internal financial control at the front of the appropriation account discloses significant financial and other risks faced by An Garda Síochána and the steps taken to address those risks. The statement also deals with procurement matters and notes that there were 94 procurement arrangements availed of in 2016 where a competitive process had not been followed. The combined expenditure under those arrangements in 2016 amounted to €27.8 million. Within that total, expired contracts had been extended beyond the specified contract end date for 27 procurements with combined expenditure of just over €20 million. This included procurement of information and communications technology, ICT, goods and services, some of which were the focus of the internal audit examination being considered by the committee today.

More generally, I would point out that, as part of the annual audit of accounts of financial statements, we review the work and outputs of internal audit units. That work aims to identify any systemic control issues that need to be addressed by the audited body, and to ensure that they have responded appropriately to any findings and recommendations. An Garda Síochána’s internal audit unit completed the examination on the ICT directorate payment process in August 2017, and this committee was provided with a copy of Garda management’s response to the report in March 2018. The report and responses are being examined as part of the audit of the 2017 appropriation account of An Garda Síochána, which is ongoing.