Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the percentage of payments made by his Department since 19 May 2009 to suppliers and other contractors which were paid in full within 15 days, within 30 days and longer than 30 days; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32414/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Payment of invoices by this Department is governed by the provisions of the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act, 1997 as amended by the European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2002. The Act, which came into force in January 1998, initially provided for the payment of interest on invoices which are unpaid after 45 days from date of receipt. In August 2002, the point at which interest becomes due was reduced to 30 days. As the Deputy will be aware, following a Government Decision in May of this year, Government Departments were asked, where possible, to make payments within a 15 day period.

The payment procedures in place in my Department are designed to avoid undue delay in the processing and payment of valid invoices. Every effort is made to make payments as soon as possible and the Department is generally successful in making payments within the 30 day period.

The number of late payments (i.e. paid after a 30 day period) in each year represents a very small part of the total number of payments made. For example, in 2008, my Department made over 11,000 payments in Ireland, of which only 18 were late payments under the terms of the Acts mentioned above, less than 0.2% of the total payments made.

In regard to the data available concerning payments made within a 15 day payment period, all Government Departments are now required to submit quarterly reports to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with details about the length of time taken to make payments (i.e. within 15 days, within 30 days and after 30 days). The existing payments system is currently being modified so that the information needed for such reporting can be extracted. Data for the first such quarterly report, for the period ending 30 September, is currently being collated for submission by 15 October. I have arranged for a copy of the first quarterly report to be sent to the Deputy as soon as it is ready.