Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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747. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the basis on which her Department was allowed to pay money to local authorities for work that has not yet been carried out and in some cases in which the approval of projects was only given in December 2016; the reason the rules relating to payment by Departments for mature liabilities only was waived in this case; the amount of money involved in the approval given for such payments; if other Departments were given similar approval for payment to local authorities and other bodies without mature liabilities being incurred first; the circular under which this was approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1033/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Public and Expenditure Reform Circular 13/2014 Management of and Accountability for grants from Exchequer fundsdetails all provisions in relation to the payment and management of grant funding. Whilst the default position in accordance with the Circular is that grants should be paid on the basis of vouched expenditure, the provisions of the Circular also provide for pre-funded grant schemes/pre-funding arrangements for grantees. Any such pre-funding schemes/arrangements must be sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in accordance with the provisions of the Circular.

My Department applied for and received sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for the provision of pre-funded grants to Local Authorities on the 4^thof August 2016. The total amount paid to Local Authorities on foot of these sanctioned pre-funding arrangements was just under €29.5 million.

I am not aware of the position of other Departments in relation to similar approvals under the provisions of the Circular.