Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 89: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps being taken to ensue compliance by Departments with the new arrangements announced on 20 May 2009 to reduce the payment period by Departments to their business suppliers from 30 to 15 days; if there are plans to extend this arrangement to semi-State companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27426/09]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Responsibility for implementing the terms of the Government Decision relating to the payment by Central Departments of business suppliers within 15 days rests with each individual Department. Suppliers experiencing difficulties with payments should contact the relevant Departmental section with which the contract was arranged.

The Secretary General of my Department wrote to all Government Departments on 26th May, asking them to take the necessary steps to implement this commitment and to ensure that Department line staff and Finance Units are made aware of the need to prioritise payments to suppliers to meet the 15 day deadline.

The Government Decision of 19 May included a requirement for Departments to report quarterly to my Department on their performance in meeting these requirements. These reports are to be submitted by the 15th day of the month following the end of the quarter and the first such report will now be due by 15 October 2009. Departments are also required to include information on the implementation of the measures in their subsequent Annual Reports.

In addition to the commitment for Departments, the Government also stated that an assessment would be completed of the impact of extending this requirement to the local authority, health and education sectors. This assessment is currently underway. Specific proposals in relation to these sectors will be developed following the completion of the assessment.