John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 486: To ask the Minister for Defence if there is a dedicated auditing unit in his Department assessing and monitoring the day to day spend of his Department with particular reference to major projects; if so, the number of staff involved; if the staff have accountancy qualifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26851/04]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a dedicated internal audit unit which carries out a range of audits each year in order to provide assurance on the adequacy of controls in operation in the various areas of activity of the Department. The internal audit unit works to an annual plan which is approved by the secretary general and which comprises a range of audits of military stores and systems audits of expenditure programmes, including, from time to time, audits of major capital projects. The audit unit currently has a staff of 15, all of whom have received appropriate training to carry out their work. None of the staff is a qualified accountant.