Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 293: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the amount of money owed to private firms by his Department. [42263/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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My Department endeavours to ensure that all monies owed to private firms are paid promptly on receipt of a valid invoice. It is fully committed to complying with the terms of the Prompt Payment Regulations and also with the 2009 Government decision that all Departments commit to paying Irish suppliers within 15 days of receipt of valid invoices.

In the year ending 31 October 2010, almost 83% of payments to suppliers and contractors were made within 15 days, some 13 % were paid within 16 to 30 days and 4 % were paid after 30 days of receipt of the invoices. Procedures are in place to process payments promptly and there is on-going monitoring and reporting to ensure that there are no payments owing to suppliers.

In the year to 31 October 2010, the Department processed in the region of 48,000 invoices from Irish suppliers with a total value of approximately €106 million.