Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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163. To ask the Minister for Health the average number of days the Health Service Executive takes to pay invoices submitted by suppliers; the total amount of outstanding invoices owing by the HSE at the end of March; the number of these invoices that are one month old, three months old, six months old and in excess of 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16836/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that the Executive is committed to making every effort to pay its suppliers promptly, and to standard payment terms of 30 days. Taking into account that over 7,000 invoices are received daily by the Executive across a multiplicity of service delivery units, managing all payment processes is logistically complex.

Notwithstanding this, the introduction of Prompt Payments legislation and the refinancing arrangements introduced and overseen by my Department have seen the HSE comprehensively address the issue of late payment. It should be noted that as a result of the improvement in payments, prompt payment interest paid by the HSE in 2012, was just one third of 1% of its non-pay budget for that year. I have asked the HSE to respond directly to you with regard to your specific queries.