Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Dillon has engaged with me directly in respect of a number of hotels in his constituency. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine one year ago, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-government response to the Ukraine crisis. The unprecedented demand for accommodation and, by association, the level of transactions involved is significant. With more than 750 contractors paid monthly, the payments process is an operation of considerable scale. The Department is obliged to ensure invoices are correct and, while some are straightforward, many require queries to the provider and additional documentation to confirm what is owed.

I acknowledge that due to the quantum involved, some providers are experiencing delays in receiving payment. The Department is mindful of the impact this has on the providers themselves. We have been proactive in implementing a number of measures to reduce the backlog substantially. In terms of what we have done, the number of staff in the payments area of the Department has been doubled since the start of the year, and this includes the reassignment of 13 staff from other parts of the Department to the payments unit. We have now received five staff from an external body, KOSI, who have been on board since 6 March, with further personnel resources coming from that particular organisation as well. We have also secured four individuals from Pobal, the State body, specifically to address queries. The provision of the extra staff is having an impact. The total value of all payments made to 20 March this year is €202 million. The number of payments made between February and March of this year has doubled. We are going to continue to deliver further increases. On average, our payments and finance team is now processing approximately €30 million worth of payments every week. This has risen, but it will rise further because we have brought additional staff on board. We are also looking at outsourcing and automating a number of processes as well that, up to this point, have been done on a personal basis.

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