Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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353. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding plans to create a central debt collection agency for the Health Service Executive, the Courts Service, local authorities and the Departments of Social Protection and Agriculture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33489/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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My Department commissioned a review of debt management across five sectors: the HSE, Local Government, Department of Social Protection, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Courts Service. The review was conducted by BearingPoint, following a competitive tender process, and has been published on my Department's website.

This review identifies the challenges facing these sectors in terms of debt collection and notes that these organisations are currently working to improve their debt collection performance. The BearingPoint review contains a number of cross-departmental recommendations, one of which is the establishment of a Central Collection Agency.

There has been no decision made by Government to establish a Central Collection Agency. A project manager will shortly be engaged, via the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to further investigate and explore the potential impacts and practicalities of each measure and detailed proposals will then be brought to Government, if the the case merits it.