Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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716. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department and each body under its aegis discloses expenditure on external consultancy and adviser fees, by category (details supplied) in their annual report and or financial statements for each accounting year; if they provide direct web links to the most recent publications where these Section 1.5 disclosures are set out for his Department and for each body under its aegis; if they provide the total consultancy and adviser fees by the Section 1.5 categories for each of the past five years for his Department and for each body under its aegis, respectively; and the internal controls that are in place to ensure that these category-level disclosures are made annually and that procurement of such services complies with applicable competitive tendering rules, in tabular form. [55371/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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A full breakdown of my Department’s financial position is available in the Annual Appropriation Account which is prepared in line with the Public Financial Procedures, circulars and the annual Guidance Manual for the Preparation of Appropriation Accounts, published by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and applicable to all Government Departments. These accounts are subject to audit by the Office of the Controller and Auditor General.

The latest annual financial statements for the Justice Vote are available here:

An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, the Courts Service, Fiosrú, the Policing and Community Safety Authority and the Data Protection Commission each have their own Vote and Accounting Officer and their financial statements are prepared to the same standard as my Department.

All statutory agencies under the aegis of my Department are expected to adhere to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies including section 1.5 “Consultancy Costs” of the Business and Financial Reporting requirements and on an annual basis make disclosures in their financial statements, which are available each of the statutory agency websites and on for the period 2021-2023 on gov.ie at .

All non-statutory agencies are included within the Justice Vote 24 Appropriation Accounts.

Procurement within my Department and the agencies under its aegis is subject to audit and scrutiny under the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993.