Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the purpose and origin of the State property miscellaneous deposits account; the balance in the account; the areas from which the deposits are derived; the reason it is not reflected through the general government fund and not brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45082/17]

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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122. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason there is no register in place to record each property accrual to the State in circumstances (details supplied); the reason there is no process within Government Departments to record assets accruing in this manner; the nature, number, value and location of such assets which have accrued to the State in this manner, in tabular form; if not, the process being established to rectify this anomaly; the Department which has responsibility for same; the timeframe envisaged for its completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45083/17]

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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123. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the accounts not presented to Dáil Éireann or reflected in the general Government fund in view of the existence of the State property miscellaneous deposit account; the balance of each account; the person or body that manages these accounts; the areas from which moneys within these accounts are derived; the purposes the funds are used for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45084/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 to 123, inclusive, together.

The primary purpose of Section 28 of the State Property Act 1954 is to ensure that there is no gap in legal ownership of the assets of a dissolved company. Once a company is dissolved, its assets vest in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The vesting is automatic and does not require any intervention from the Minister.

The balance of the State Property Miscellaneous Deposits Account, which accepts amounts relating to dissolved companies, is €13,944,274. The account is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The money entering this account is classified as a financial transaction, thus there is no beneficial impact to the General Government Balance under the European System of Accounts 2010. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the official reporting of Ireland’s General Government Balance, General Government Debt and other Government Finance Statistics.

The interest acquired by the Minister is described as a defeasible interest as it may be defeated by restoration of the company. Neither company nor property law require comprehensive and fully up-to-date asset records to be lodged with the Company Registration Office and the Property Registration Authority. Consequently, the only persons with a complete view of the assets held by a company at the time of its dissolution are the directors and officers of the company. As a result, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform only becomes aware that assets have vested in him by virtue of the State Property Act 1954 once he has been notified by an interested party seeking to have the property waived or by another person that has an issue with the property. In the circumstances it is not possible to provide the table suggested by the Deputy.