Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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250. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if a use it or lose it by year end rule is or has been in operation within her Department when devolving funding to agencies under her remit on an annual basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29199/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The management of the annual Exchequer funding provision to my Department and its Agencies is underpinned by the rules governing Public Financial Procedures. In particular grants provided to the Agencies of my Department are subject to the standard requirements set down in the Public Financial Procedures concerning any payment from a subhead, namely that they have to be fully vouched and accounted for to the Comptroller and Auditor General and any balance remaining unexpended at the end of the year must be surrendered to the Exchequer. The Deputy may be aware that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform issued a Circular in 2014 regarding the management and accountability of grants to public bodies from Votes of Government Departments. The Circular in addition to prescribing the basis for the management of grant funding to public bodies also sets out the guiding principles which such bodies should apply in the expenditure of exchequer grants, including the need to achieve value for money.

In essence the Circular permits the pre-funding of grants to public sector bodies subject to certain provisos. I would advise the Deputy that a number of the Agencies under the aegis of my Department are provided their grants on a pre-funded basis. The pre-funding of these grants fully complies with the requirements of the 2014 Circular and the monitoring and control arrangements attaching to the pre-funding are available for audit inspection. I would also advise the Deputy that in instances where Agencies have excess funds on hand at year’s end, these are returned to the Department in the following year and returned to the Exchequer as Extra Exchequer Receipts.

It is also the case that all public bodies, including my Department and its Agencies, are obliged to treat public funds with care, and to ensure that the best possible value-for-money is obtained whenever public money is being spent or invested. In this regard, I would point out that all of my Department’s Voted moneys are subject to annual audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

I am satisfied that the management of exchequer funding provided to the Agencies operating under the aegis of my Department fully complies with the requirements of Public Financial Procedures and that the requisite processes are in place to ensure that the best value for money possible is achieved by the Agencies in the expenditure of the grants provided to them.