Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Public Accounts Committee

Business of Committee

9:00 am

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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I will tell the Deputy.

At the commencement of our work three or four years ago, we found that only 30% of the 300 bodies audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General had submitted their accounts within three months of the year end. That figure rose to 78% for 2017, not only as a result of the Comptroller and Auditor General's insistence but also the committee's refusal to accept it. One can clearly see that we will hold to account the boards of the education and training boards or whatever the organisations are. As we did in the case of the non-provision of accounts in a timely manner, we might end up having to bring four or five organisations before the committee, which will send out a clear message. I suspect that within 12 months most of them will address the matter. It should be the boards' responsibility, not ours. If they fail to do their job, however, we will ensure that they will do it, whether they like it or not. We should not have to do it but nobody else will and we want it done.