Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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46. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if his Department aggregates or compiles quarterly prompt payment reporting data submitted by public bodies and agencies under its remit, in accordance with Government Decision S29296 of 19 May 2009, 2 and 8 March 2011, and 28 March 2017; if so, to provide the compiled data or summary tables for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024 to date; if not, the reason his Department does not aggregate this data; and if any steps have been taken to ensure public bodies under its remit are meeting their reporting obligations. [22611/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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47. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to confirm which public bodies under the aegis of his Department are required to submit quarterly prompt payment reports in accordance with Government Decision S29296 of 19 May 2009, 2 and 8 March 2011, and 28 March 2017, regarding the 15-Day Prompt Payment Commitment; to provide a comprehensive list of those bodies; and to specify which of those bodies submitted reports covering each quarter of 2023 and Q1 2025, and which did not, in tabular form. [22630/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 47 together.

Following on from Government Decision No S29296 of 19 May 2009, there is a requirement on all Government Departments and associated agencies to pay their suppliers within 15 days of receipt of a valid invoice and to publish a quarterly payment performance report on the Departmental website. Government Decision S29296 of 28 March 2017 further restated this requirement along with an additional requirement for Departments to publish a quarterly report detailing the prompt payment performance of each public sector body under its aegis.

Every effort is made by the Department of Defence to ensure that all suppliers are paid within this timeframe. In that regard, as reported by this Department and subsequently published on the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment website, 94% of Defence payments made in Q4, 2024, were made within 15 days of receipt, with 100% of payments made within 30 days of receipt. This level of payment performance indicates a very high degree of ongoing compliance with Prompt Payment requirements.

The public bodies operating within the aegis of the Defence Vote Group, comprising of the Defence and Army Pension Votes, include the Army Pensions Board, the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces and the External Oversight Body (EOB) of the Defence Forces. The Army Pensions Board is an independent statutory body that adjudicates and reports on applications under the Army Pensions Acts for disability pensions by ex-members of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF). The Ombudsman for the Defence Forces was established under the Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Act 2004, and serves as an Office of Independent external review for existing and former members of the Defence Forces. The External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces was formally established on a statutory footing from 1st December 2024 following the publication of the report of the Independent Review Group (IRG).

Relevant payment amounts associated with these bodies are processed through the Department’s financial systems and are encompassed within the Department’s overall prompt payment returns. Payments for the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces incurred prompt payment penalties totalling €348 over the period from 2022 to Q1, 2025. Relevant payments associated with the Army Pensions Board and the External Oversight Body did not incur any prompt payment penalties in the specified periods.