Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide a list of the Ministers that have certified expenditure under the Secret Service vote; and the amount incurred by each Minister's Department for the years 2010 and 2011. [7109/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Given the nature of expenditure under this Vote, it is not the practice to provide detailed information as to how the annual allocation has been, or will be, spent.

The Appropriation Account of the Vote for the Secret Service is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General in accordance with Section 3 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993. The C&AG is furnished with certificates from the responsible Ministers which support the expenditure shown in the Account. On the basis of these certificates, the C&AG expresses an opinion in the annual published Appropriation Accounts that the Account properly presents the expenditure of the Secret Service Vote for the particular year concerned. This arrangement has been accepted by the Committee of Public Accounts of the Dáil.

As indicated in the Appropriation Accounts for 2010, expenditure under the Secret Service Vote in 2010 was €580,000. The corresponding figure for 2011 was €568,000.