Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 January 2023

Public Accounts Committee

Business of Committee

9:30 am

Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The figure is €6.6 million in that case.

No. 23 is the National Council for Special Education for 2021. That received a clear audit opinion.

No. 24 is the Digital Hub Development Agency for 2021. That received a clear audit opinion but I draw attention to note 6 to the financial statements which discloses that the agency incurred expenditure of €227,500 in respect of 2021 as a result of a vacant site levy charge imposed by the local authority. That was possibly the third year in which such a fine had been incurred. Again, in this case the account was signed off on 20 June 2022 so there has been a delay in submission which the committee may want to follow up on.

Next we come to Horse Racing Ireland, the group accounts, and then the next nine are subsidiaries of Horse Racing Ireland. They all relate to 2021 and all received a clear audit opinion. However, I draw attention to a further loss of €1.3 million in 2021 related to Horse Racing Ireland's investment in an associate company, Curragh Racecourse Limited. The cumulative loss on the investment to the end of 2021 was €7.7 million. I do not propose to read out the names of all the subsidiaries. They will be on the list.

No. 35 is the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board for the period of account 2020. That received a clear audit opinion. However, I draw attention to cost overruns on two school extension projects and to a settlement related to VAT of €300,000 due for the period 2015 to 2021 resulting in interest and penalty charges totalling €98,000.

Finally, No. 36 is Tourism Ireland, which is one of the North-South bodies, for 2021. That received a clear audit opinion.