Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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261. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he is aware of any overspends exceeding €500,000 on projects undertaken or commissioned by his Department or by any State or semi-State body under the aegis of his Department in each of the past five years; if so, the number and extent of any such overspends, in tabular form; to outline the plans to ascertain levels of such overspends; the further plans to ensure that such information is reported to his Department in a timely fashion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6527/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In general, the projects supported my Department are not undertaken or commissioned by the Department itself, but are delivered by entities including local authorities, local development companies and community groups. With regard to those projects which have been directly undertaken or commissioned by my Department over the period in question, none have had overspends of the scale indicated.

With regard to agencies of the Department, there are four agencies under the remit of my Department, the Charities Regulator, the Western Development Commission, Water Safety Ireland and Pobal. I am informed that there have been no such overspends by these agencies during the period in question.

My Department carries out robust governance oversight of all the agencies under its remit with service level agreements in place, annual governance checklists completed and regular liaison meetings with each agency and the relevant oversight Units within my Department. The Secretary General of my Department also meets with the Chairs and Chief Executives annually and as required. While the agencies are all independent legal entities responsible for managing their own corporate affairs in compliance with their statutory obligations, I am confident that these oversight structures within my Department ensure that any such relevant information is reported to my officials in a timely fashion.