Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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1468. To ask the Minister for Health if all State bodies under the aegis of his Department have furnished a report confirming the State body has complied with its obligations under tax law for 2015 and 2016 as required under the code of practice for the governance of State bodies; the action which was taken regarding those bodies that did not submit such requests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28671/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under the terms of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, all State Bodies under my aegis are required to furnish a report each year confirming their compliance with all elements of the Code including their compliance with tax laws.

The HSE as a State Body has incorporated taxation into its National Financial Regulations as they apply to tax. These represent the high level framework within which the internal financial control system of the HSE operates. The HSE performs an annual detailed self-review of tax compliance, which is managed by a dedicated in­house tax team working with external tax advisors. The HSE confirmed that it has complied with its obligations under tax law other than as disclosed in the Statement of Internal Financial Control and Note 25 of the Annual Financial Statements 2016. The Annual Report and Financial Statements of the HSE were submitted to me on 1 June, 2017 and laid before the Oireachtas on 2^ndJune and were subject to the review of the Public Accounts Committee on 15^thJune 2017.

All other State Bodies under my aegis have confirmed that they were in compliance with the tax law requirements in the Code in their annual compliance statements for 2015. My officials have not yet received all reports for 2016, but all that have made returns have confirmed compliance with the Code.