Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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133. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of persons employed in the fraud unit in Irish Aid in each of the years 2012 to 2018 and to date in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8215/19]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade operates in a complex and diverse environment, given both the range of its work and the variety of locations where it operates. The Department recognises that the risk of fraud is an ever-present threat to its assets, resources and reputation. The Department has a zero tolerance towards fraud, and managing risk, including the risk of potential fraud, is an integral part of how the Department works, including in the Irish Aid programme. Accordingly, all officers in the Department share the responsibility for risk management and prevention of fraud.

The Department has in place policies and procedures for the prevention, detection and dealing with instances of fraud or suspected fraud. These include the Financial Policy and Procedures, the Department’s Risk Management Policy, the Counter-Fraud Policy, and the Standard Approach to Grant Management, all of which are regularly reviewed and updated. All Department personnel are responsible for ensuring strong, robust and effective fraud prevention and control. In particular, senior managers in the Department are responsible for implementing Departmental policies and for the operation and maintenance of the Department’s internal control systems, which promote the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud, as well as management of the risk of fraud. This includes ensuring the rigorous implementation of the appraisal and approval procedures in place with regard to funding provided to organisations or programmes under the Irish Aid programme.

In line with the Department’s Counter Fraud Policy, all instances of suspected or alleged fraud in partner organisations, including those funded by Irish Aid, are required to be reported to the Department. Cases are examined by the Department’s Evaluation and Audit Unit and appropriate follow up actions are taken, in consultation with the relevant line Division, to ascertain the amount of any loss, identify perpetrators, and identify any control weaknesses which may need to be strengthened. It is the Department’s policy to actively seek recovery of any Irish public funds deemed to have been misappropriated.

Over the period from 2012 to date, the staff complement of the Evaluation and Audit Unit has been in range of 18 to 20 staff, including eight based in Embassies managing significant development programmes.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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134. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Irish Aid is suspended or restricted to certain countries in relation to concerns regarding the use of Irish Aid money; if so, the countries in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8216/19]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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135. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the countries that have had Irish Aid suspended or restricted over concerns of its use of Irish Aid money in each of the years 2012 to 2018 and to date in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8217/19]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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136. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the safeguards that have been put in place to ensure Irish Aid money is spent correctly and in accordance with set procedures and standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8218/19]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 to 136, inclusive, together.

The Irish Aid programme, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has a strong focus on value for money, transparency, accountability and sustainable results. A key function of Embassies in countries where Ireland has a development co-operation programme is to actively monitor risk and ensure that the evolution of a country programme responds dynamically to risk environments. Accountants, internal auditors and technical specialists at mission level work in policy teams, and frequently in coordination with partner donors and international financial institutions, to drive this dynamic risk management, underpinned by headquarters oversight including by the Department's independent Audit and Evaluation Unit.

As part of Irish Aid's risk management approach, Ireland's overseas development assistance is channelled through a variety of financing modalities and partners, including official, civil society and multilateral or UN partnerships. This ensures that if problems occur, a given funding modality may be suspended to allow actions to be taken to ensure that issues arising are fully and satisfactorily addressed. It is not the case that assistance to countries is suspended or restricted, rather the mix of modalities is adjusted in light of risk analysis in any given moment.

In a number of countries where Ireland works, support is also given to relevant government institutions, such as the auditor general’s offices, anti-corruption bureaux and civil society monitoring and advocacy groups, to help ensure that public monies, both Ireland's and partner governments’ are used to good effect and in accordance with both the spirit and letter of our partnership agreements.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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137. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the measures that have been put in place following the suspension of Irish aid to Uganda in 2012; if Uganda is still subject restrictions with regard to Irish aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8219/19]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to ensuring that aid is spent efficiently and effectively to tackle global challenges. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a zero tolerance approach towards fraud, and has in place policies and procedures for the prevention, detection and dealing with instances of fraud, or suspected fraud. These policies and procedures are in place in all Embassies with respect to the disbursement and expenditure of Irish Aid funds.

The Embassy in Kampala manages the Irish Aid programme through the 2016-2020 Uganda Country Strategy. Within this strategy Ireland is focused on social protection, HIV-AIDS, education and governance, and has programmes targeted at Uganda’s poorest region, Karamoja. In delivering this programme through local partners, risks are identified in a proposed partner organisation as part of an initial appraisal process. The nature of these risks are assessed and if mitigation is possible, the Embassy will agree to support the organisation. Currently, the Irish Aid programme in Uganda does not use Government financial systems, but rather partners with UN agencies and NGOs in delivery. Financial and management systems assessments are periodically conducted and funding is earmarked for identified activities that are pivotal to achieving results.

The programme in Uganda has been under close scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General due to the 2012 fraud involving the Office of the Prime Minister. In February 2017, a delegation from the Comptroller and Auditor General's office visited Uganda, as a country level example of the Department’s control systems and improvements in procedures for bilateral assistance, following the major fraud case in 2012. The Department continuously reviews internal controls and risk management, and has revised and enhanced its grant management process for the Irish Aid programme, taking account the lessons learned from this fraud in 2012. The ongoing work of our internal auditors in key partner countries includes assessment of compliance with these and all the processes in place to manage grants.

I would point out the important role of the Uganda Auditor General, whose team had been strengthened by Irish Aid, in detecting and highlighting the fraud, as well as the fact that all Irish funds were returned to the Embassy in Uganda.