Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when he was last furnished with annual reports and audited accounts by the North-South implementation bodies under the aegis of his Department; the other years in which these documents were provided to him; if these documents have been published by the relevant bodies and are in the public domain; if he is satisfied that they demonstrate that a proper system of governance is operated by these bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9337/09]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Two of the North/South implementation bodies come under the aegis of my Department, Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga. Waterways Ireland has furnished its Annual Reports and Accounts for each year from 2000 to 2006 and copies of these Reports have been published and are available in the Oireachtas Library as well as on http://www.waterwaysireland.org. The 2007 Annual Report and Accounts will be laid before the Houses shortly and will be available in the Library.

An Foras Teanga comprises two agencies, Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency. Each agency has furnished my Department with draft reports and annual accounts for each year from 2000, up to and including 2007. The draft 2008 annual reports and accounts for each agency are due to be submitted by end-March 2009. Once the individual annual accounts for each agency have been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) or Northern Ireland Audit Office, as appropriate, they require to be consolidated. The consolidated accounts are then jointly examined and certified by the two C&AGs, North and South. To date, consolidated reports and accounts for the years 2000 to 2004 have been finalised and copies of these Reports are available in the Library and on the Foras website: www.gaeilge.ie. The 2005 accounts have also been consolidated and it is hoped that these can be published later this year, subject to sign-off by the two C&AGs.

At the most recent meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council in Language Sector Format on 16 January 2009, the Chief Executives of the two agencies assured both Minister Campbell and I that finalisation of all outstanding annual reports and accounts continues to be given the utmost priority. Both Ministers also acknowledged the inherent complexities in compiling, auditing and consolidating these annual reports and accounts and the efforts of both agencies to progress this work.

The certificate of the C&AGs in both jurisdictions provides assurances in regard to the systems of governance in place. Further assurances are provided at monitoring and other meetings between the agencies and the Sponsor Departments and by way of additional audit reviews, which are carried out from time to time as deemed appropriate.