Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Harmon for this amendment, which I think is very well intentioned. Accountability, transparency and value for money are all elements that we want to make sure we are achieving as we do our work in government. Regarding the Secretary General providing detailed statements of costs, this is already provided for because a lot of this information is publicly available. Information on the salaries of advisers and civilian drivers is publicly available. There will be guidelines for the Thirty-fourth Dáil, which I understand will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in the next couple of weeks. They will then be published online and be freely available and will contain all of that information.

The Senator spoke about the functional performance - what work has been carried out regarding duties and what laws have been enacted. All of that kind of information is already available. It is very clear, even using the resources available in-house, what the Ministers of State have been doing in terms of legislative work in both Houses of the Oireachtas and through committees, where they have been before and where they have had to make statements. Their public events are publicly available, usually through diaries and calendars that are published online. In the event of a Department not providing that online, it is always available through a freedom of information request.

Regarding the Comptroller and Auditor General, Estimates of expenditure are published as part of the annual budget process and are then examined by the relevant Oireachtas committees. Appropriation accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General before being examined at the Committee of Public Accounts. Regarding a role for the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General was established under section 9 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993. The office already has the power to make an examination where it deems appropriate. Section 9 provides for examination by the Comptroller and Auditor General of the economy and the efficiency with which Departments and bodies statutorily audited by the office use their resources to carry out their functions and the measures used by such Departments and bodies for appraising the effectiveness of their own operations. Section 10 of the Act grants the Comptroller and Auditor General access to all necessary documents and all information required for audits and examinations. Section 11 ensures the findings are reported directly to the Oireachtas. This maintains transparency and accountability, always with an eye on value for money. I do not want to create additional layers of bureaucracy that take away from value for money when we already have accountability and transparency built into the system.