John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I refer the Minister of State to the INTRAC consultants report published last year for the Department of Foreign Affairs. It reported that any entity receiving Irish aid should have to abide by tighter contracts and tougher reporting rules.It also mentioned that many of the agencies in question, dispensing moneys given by Irish Aid, supplied only very general and sometimes inaccurate reports. This caught my eye. While many aid bodies are criticised for excessive administration costs, the consultants found that Irish Aid could operate better with more accountants and other inspection staff. While that is not a comment one would hear about the HSE, the point the consultants made was that there was not enough scrutiny of the moneys going through Irish Aid. Greater administration is needed to scrutinise the accounts.

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