Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The 2017 Appropriation Accounts, Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office, records gross expenditure of a little over €46 million. Appropriations-in-aid were €1.5 million, resulting in net voted expenditure of €44.7 million. The surplus for surrender at year-end was €3.9 million.

Members will note that the gross expenditure in 2017 was some €30 million less than in 2016. The difference is mainly due to the additional costs incurred by the CSO in carrying out the five-yearly census of population in 2016.

The appropriation account is presented under a single programme entitled Delivery of Annual Statistical Programme. An analysis of the expenditure is given in note 3 under standard administrative headings used in appropriation accounts. This also includes explanations for significant variances in spending on individual subheads relative to the amount provided. I issued a clear audit opinion on the appropriation account and there were no matters that I considered required reporting to Dáil Éireann.