Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I commend Mr. John Purcell on his fantastic work over the past 14 years. Like Deputy Michael McGrath, I am an accountant but I am not a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. Looking around the Chamber, all I see are accountants.

All the reports I have read since I came into the Dáil last year have a common theme. The PPARS report was before my time but the e-Government report is an example. The key theme is the lack of financial planning on major projects and lack of expertise in major reports. The most recent report, Special Report 10: General Matters arising on Audits — Non-Commercial State Sponsored Bodies, Health Sector Bodies, Vocational Education Committees, is a summation of the work of the Comptroller and Auditor General over many years. He identified the key issues, which were very straightforward in terms of value for money. This included money drawn down by Departments that will not be spent for months and left on the balance sheet at the end of the year. This is bad use of the public purse. We must examine reform. Government bodies and Departments are drawing down funding at the end of the year to ensure the budget will be retained the following year. It is bad value for money. The Comptroller and Auditor General in his 2006 report, and Deputy Broughan earlier in this debate, referred to the Estimates and the lack of opportunity for interaction with Deputies before they are voted on.

We must have procedures whereby the Comptroller and Auditor General has greater powers at an earlier stage. I wish Mr. John Buckley well and hope the role will be extended so that the Comptroller and Auditor General has an input in major projects early on and there is a level of control.

Under the 1993 Act, the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General was extended to include value for money, which is critical. We are in a period where the economy is in slowdown and the spending of money must be adjudicated in a tighter fashion. The Comptroller and Auditor General has a worthwhile role to play in terms of his expertise in regard to the systems within Departments and Government bodies. Deputy Michael McGrath spoke about management letters which is, in layman's terms, the identification by an auditor of difficulties in internal controls and instructions to management by letter to act upon them. This is effectively what happens by way of the annual report. However, all of this work is pointless if no action is taken.

The 2006 annual report highlighted poor and substandard accounting systems within the HSE. I read the report when published and raised this matter in the House at the time. While this problem was corroborated by the Accounting Officer from the Department Finance, it took the Government more than six months to respond to it. The Taoiseach and former Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, has now instigated a review of the accounting systems within the HSE. It is critical action is taken to address this problem.

The Estimates are based on 55,000 house completions. Every analysis available states they should be based on 30,000 to 35,000 completions, leaving a €2 billion shortfall. What we need is a proper Estimates process, a proper debate in this House and proper scrutiny of ongoing projects by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Important points were made earlier in regard to large-scale projects such as the e-Government project. Approximately €420 million was spent on such projects, many of which ran over time and budget. Some €35 million was spent on the development of a website which allowed public access to information on Government services. However, the site is not functioning properly and this should have been picked up on earlier. It is important the Comptroller and Auditor General is called in earlier to scrutinise projects above a certain threshold, for example, in the form of an interim audit, to ensure we are obtaining value for money.

Mr. John Purcell took the role of Comptroller and Auditor General to another level. He examined issues in an in-depth and forensic fashion. One does not need to be an accountant to understand the 2006 annual report; anyone can read it, which is important. We should ensure reports continue to be produced this way. I wish Mr. Purcell and his family well on his retirement. I also congratulate Mr. John Buckley on his appointment. I am sure we will have some dealings with him in the future. I believe the task ahead of him is an onerous one.

The Taoiseach must remain committed to public sector reform. Government Deputies mentioned earlier he is instigating public sector reform. However, this issue was repeatedly highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General's in his annual reports down through the years. We need to extend the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General to include the introduction of an early warning system which will allow us to identify potential problems and to take the appropriate corrective action before valuable taxpayers' money has been wasted.

The Taoiseach needs to give to the Comptroller and Auditor General the power to drive improvements in governance and management systems in State bodies before disasters occur and he should ensure State agencies and public bodies are more accountable to the Oireachtas. That is critical. Former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, confirmed at a meeting of the Committee on Finance and the Public Service many of the points made in regard to large-scale projects. In many cases, large projects within Government Departments are dealt with by people involved in ongoing tasks. We need to set up specific teams that can do this work Department by Department. On e-Government, a strong argument has been made for the appointment of a specific team to deal with this work to ensure consistency.

I strongly favour a move towards multi-annual budgeting. We are all aware of Departments seeking to spend money at the end of the year purely to ensure they utilise their budgets. This is a false economy and poor value for money for the Exchequer. In summary, we must ensure we have proper public sector reform and that the Comptroller and Auditor General is involved in that reform at the initial and final stages. Also, we must move towards multi-annual budgeting.

I take this opportunity to congratulate Deputy Martin Mansergh on his appointment as Minister of State at the Departments of Finance, with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, and Arts, Sport and Tourism, with special responsibility for the arts, and to wish my colleague, Deputy Peter Power from Limerick East, all the best on his appointment as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, with special responsibility for overseas development.

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