Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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590. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the details of each value for money and policy review conducted by his Department from 1 January 2019 to date; if external costs were incurred; if so, the details of such costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30885/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Government Departments regularly review expenditure programmes under the established system of value for money and policy reviews (VFMs). In the period under question, one such formal review was underway in relation to homeless services, on which no external costs were incurred.

The Local Government Audit Service (LGAS) of my Department carries out VFM studies on local authority operations, with a view to identifying best practice and recommending ways of improving existing procedures, practices and systems and thereby promoting efficiency and cost effectiveness. These reports are undertaken internally and no external costs arise. Reports issued from 1 January 2019 to date are listed below.

- An Overview Report of Capital Unfunded Balances in Local Authorities, published in April 2019;

- An Overview Report of Interest Only Loans in Local Authorities, published in April 2019;

- Progress Report No. 7 – Progress on the implementation of the recommendations contained in VFM Report No. 29 ‘The oversight role of the Local Authorities in the provision of social housing by Approved Housing Bodies’, published in October 2020; and

- An Overview Report of Fire Services Expenditure and Income in Local Authorities, published in December 2020.

In addition to the above, my Department reviews its schemes and programmes on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are fit for purpose. For example, applications for funding of social housing are reviewed for value for money in line with requirements of the Capital Works Management Framework.