Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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660. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will investigate the case of a company (details supplied) regarding delayed payments from his Department's Ukrainian accommodation section; the reasons for these delays; if he can confirm whether his Department has contracted with a third party to manage such payments, or if these payments are managed in-house by Departmental staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24167/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is prioritising making more timely payments of valid invoices, including providing more resources to address any issues, and outsourcing of elements of the process to speed up processing and to respond to supplier calls. While certain administrative functions are carried out by third parties to accelerate processing and improve response times, this is always under the management of departmental staff and the actual authorisation and execution of payments are carried out in-house.

With regard to the service provider referred to, I am advised by my officials that the outstanding invoices referred to in the Details Supplied, including the current period invoices, are being processed for payment.

My Department will continue to press on to eliminate the payments backlog while ensuring appropriate governance is in place to safeguard the proper spending of Exchequer funding.