Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 395: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of interest paid by him in respect of the late payments for goods or services contracted by his Department for the past five years to date in 2009; the steps being taken to ensure that money is appropriately spent and that payments are made on time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25862/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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My Department receives in excess of 40,000 valid invoices for payment each year from contractors and suppliers. The data requested are set out in the table below:

My Department is committed to making prompt payments in respect of goods and services supplied by suppliers. Payments for such services are subject to compliance with public financial procedures including value for money, effectiveness and efficiency.

My Department has taken the necessary steps to ensure the successful implementation of the recent Government decision to reduce the timeframe for making payments from 30 days to 15 days. As a first step, an Office Notice issued to all staff on 20 May 2009 informing them of the terms of the new procedures and instructing heads of business units to put appropriate measures in place to ensure suppliers are paid within a period of 15 calendar days for valid invoices for goods/supplies received on or after 15 June 2009. My Department will also be providing quarterly reports on our performance in this area (first report due October 2009) and these reports will be made public. The information will also be published in the Department's Annual Report.