Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps being taken to ensure that prompt payment is made by Departments and associated bodies to small and medium enterprises. [11329/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since 2009, Central Government Departments have been improving their respective payment times, so as to assist the cash flow of businesses, and are obliged to pay their suppliers within 15 days of receipt of a valid invoice. This 15 day prompt payment rule was introduced by Government on an administrative basis.

Departments are required to report quarterly to my Department on their performance in meeting this target. To date, 10 sets of Quarterly returns have been published on my Department's website www.djei.ie. The returns for the last Quarter of 2011 were published today. This data will show that in value terms 97-8% of invoices were paid within 15 days for that quarter.

The ongoing publication of these composite returns by my Department provides clarity in relation to the performance of individual Departments in meeting the terms of the Government Decision.

As part of the commitments in the EU/IMF Programme for Ireland, the 15 day prompt payment rule was extended beyond central Government Departments and rolled out to the Health Service Executive, the Local Authorities, State Agencies, and all other Public Sector Bodies, (excluding Commercial Semi-State bodies), in respect of valid invoices received, on or after, 1 July 2011.

As part of this new extended arrangement, parent Departments are required to publish on their respective websites Quarterly composite reports covering those bodies under their aegis. The individual bodies covered by this arrangement are also required to publish their own Quarterly reports on their websites

These new reporting arrangements should ensure that all Ministers will be able to monitor the performance of the bodies under their aegis and will enable them to address any issues with those bodies who are not meeting these obligations.

Any Small Businesses experiencing difficulties in securing payments should, in the first instance, approach the Government Department or State body concerned. Any failures to comply with the initiative can also be brought to the attention of the relevant Minister with responsibility for the body concerned.