Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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1715. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of internal audit across her Department; internal audit's relationship with external auditors and audit committees, as well as internal audit's adherence to professional standards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32545/15]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has an Internal Audit Unit and an Audit Committee, both of which operate under established charters approved by the Secretary General of my Department. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is the external auditor for my Department and conducts an audit of its Appropriation Account each year. The Internal Audit Unit in my Department has a co-operative and constructive relationship with the Office of the C&AG, through the effective communication of audit work planned and carried out in the Unit, as well as liaison on complementarities of work, where applicable.

The Audit Committee provides oversight of the work of the Internal Audit Unit. It approves the Charter and Work Programme of the Unit and monitors progress on the completion of the Programme throughout the year. The Head of Internal Audit attends Audit Committee meetings, where the activities and outputs of the Unit are reviewed and discussed.

With regard to professional standards, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform determined in November 2012 that the Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing should apply to all Government Departments and other Vote Holders. My Department adheres to these standards.