Written answers
Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Departmental Expenditure
Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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366. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount paid in late interest payments and penalty payments by his Department in each of the years 2017 to 2020 and to date in 2021 in respect of late payments being made to suppliers, service providers and contractors in tabular form; and the measures he has put in place and or is implementing to reduce late payment interest and penalty payments. [44004/21]
Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs complies with the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act and pays interest and penalties to suppliers where payments fall outside of the prescribed timeframes. The Department is cognisant of the cash flow pressures facing our suppliers and makes every effort to pay suppliers, contractors and service providers promptly.
Below is a breakdown of interest and penalties from 2017 to the end of August 2021:
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Jan-Aug 2021 | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote 27 | 1,779.37 | 2,024.78 | 2,830.87 | 1,374.78 | 2,780.58 | 10,790.38 |
| Vote 28 | 1,990.49 | 3,947.37 | 8,972.05 | 11,989.94 | 5,611.08 | 32,510.93 |
| Totals | 3,769.86 | 5,972.15 | 11,802.92 | 13,364.72 | 8,391.66 | 43,301.31 |
Purchasing and payment approval within the Department is devolved to a number of budget holders who have responsibility to approve payments promptly and submit them to the central Finance Division for payment processing. On occasion payments are made outside of the prescribed 30 days due to a number of operational reasons. There has been an increase in the number of these payments over the last 18 months primarily due to the operational challenges of remote working due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Additional training has been provided to purchasing units and instances of late payments are monitored and queried on a regular basis. The Department has commenced a large payments reform project in 2021, which will lead to improved automation of the payments process. This automation will move payment processing to a fully online approval system. This new system will be conducive to earlier approval of invoices, earlier transmission of payment requests and ultimately quicker payments to suppliers.
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