Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The appropriation account for Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine records gross expenditure of €1.69 billion in 2021. The expenditure was divided across four expenditure programmes. The programme of farm sector schemes and controls accounted for just under half of the spending.

On the receipts side, the Department had appropriations in aid totalling €387 million in 2021. The bulk of these receipts comprised transfers from the EU. Net expenditure under the Vote in 2021 was €188 million less than the amount provided for the year. With the agreement of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, €29.9 million in unspent capital allocations across a number of subheads was carried over for spending in 2022. The remainder of the surplus for the year, €158 million, was liable for surrender to the Exchequer.

I issued a clear audit opinion with regard to the appropriation account. However, I drew attention to disclosures in the statement on internal financial control of non-compliance with procurement rules that occurred in respect of contracts that operated in 2021 to the value of €3.8 million.

The statement on internal financial control also discloses significant financial risks faced by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as well as the steps taken to address those risks.

A number of the schemes provided for in Vote 30 are co-funded by the EU. That EU funding is brought to account in the Vote as appropriations-in-aid. Separately, the Department is also the accredited paying agency in Ireland for EU payment schemes that are not co-funded by Ireland. Such EU payments, including the single farm payment to farmers, are accounted for separately from the Vote. A summary of the EU-related transactions is disclosed in note 6.1 of the appropriation account. In total, the EU direct payments and payments into the Vote amounted to just over €1.5 billion for 2021.

The Department is also directly responsible for the management of the six designated fishery harbour centres, which are important economic infrastructure distributed around the coastline. While the harbours are organisationally part of the Department, the relevant legislation requires the Department to produce separate financial statements for the transactions and activities located there. The day-to-day operations of the centres are funded through harbour dues and user charges set by law, and rents from the occupiers of State-owned properties located there. The financial statements for 2021 indicate that operational receipts of the harbours totalled €6.1 million, while operating payments were €5.5 million. In addition, significant annual capital grant funding is made available from the Exchequer, via the Vote, for the development and maintenance of harbour facilities. Capital payments in 2021 totalled €23.2 million, mainly in respect of capital projects undertaken in Castletownbere and Howth. I issued a clear audit opinion on the fishery harbour centres financial statements for 2021.