Committee Reports > List of Committees > Dáil > 1994 > Committee of Public Accounts > Interim Report No. 02 - Appropriation Accounts 1993

COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

SECOND INTERIM REPORT ON THE APPROPRIATION ACCOUNTS 1993

PARTICULAR ACCOUNTS

FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

Excess Vote

1.An Excess Vote of £1,803,859 was incurred on the Vote for International Co-operation in the year under review. This was the subject of the Committee’s first interim report on the 1993 Appropriation Accounts dated 12 January 1995.

Accounting system weaknesses

2.The Committee noted that the Annual Appropriation Accounts for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation were not submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General until 30 June 1994, two months after the due date, and that the account for Foreign Affairs contained many basic errors. The Comptroller and Auditor General established that these were due to weaknesses in the Department’s procedures for recording and documenting the transactions underpinning the Account and these led to a difficulty in reconciling accounting entries with cash transactions.

The Accounting Officer assured the Committee that a new financial management system is now in place in the Department of Foreign Affairs and it provides accurate recording and control of expenditure. He also stated that steps are being taken to ensure that all Accounts Branch staff are fully conversant with all aspects of Government Accounting procedures. In response to a request from the Committee, the Comptroller and Auditor General confirmed that satisfactory control procedures were now in place.

While welcoming this improvement, the Committee noted with concern that the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General had in previous years written to the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding its failure to carry out essential control tasks in relation to bank accounts and suspense accounts and that the Department had not heeded these repeated warnings. The Department’s failure in this respect contributed in 1994 to the situation in which it found itself. In these circumstances the Committee must be critical of the Department’s inaction.

Introduction of Computer Systems

3.The Committee also noted that this was the second occasion in 1994 where the introduction of the new computerised financial management system had been cited by an Accounting Officer as an excuse for failure to submit Appropriation Accounts to the Comptroller and Auditor General by the statutory date and the Committee cautions all Accounting Officers that the introduction of computerisation will not in future be acceptable as an explanation for failure to maintain proper and up to date accounting records.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Legal fees for the Beef Tribunal

4.The Committee expressed concern at the level of fees charged by Counsel for the State at the Beef Tribunal and although it was pointed out by the Accounting Officer that there would be no legal or contractual basis for the renegotiation of the fees, the Committee requested that an opportunity should be given to counsel to reduce their fee, on a voluntary basis, and repay some of the fees received to the State. This was necessary, in the opinion of the Committee, particularly as the Tribunal went on for much longer than was originally envisaged. The Committee highlighted the fact that there was a precedent for the reduction of fees by those taking part in the Tribunal and felt it appropriate if the legal team were to do so too. (Consultants employed by the State agreed to reduce their fees when it became obvious that the Tribunal would go on longer than expected.

The Committee asked the Accounting Officer to write to Counsel for the State to request a reduction of their fees and repayment of the appropriate amount to the State.

The Accounting Officer wrote to each member of the State legal team as requested, and it is with concern that the Committee noted that without exception the request was refused.

Efficiency in the Office of the Attorney General

5.The Committee discussed, at length, the fact that a task force of three was sent to the Office of the Attorney General to examine work practices there and to make recommendations in that regard. The Committee noted with concern the problems that had arisen in that Office but decided to postpone consideration of this fact until May, 1995 in order to see whether improvements had been brought about as a result of the work of the task force.

In relation to work practices in the Civil Service generally, the Committee decided to request the attendance of the Secretary, Public Service Management and Development, Dept. of Finance, later in the year to inform the Committee of the lessons learned from the ongoing examination of the Attorney General’s Office. The Committee also requested information on the changes that will be made in other Government Departments in order to avoid a repeat of the situation in the AG’s Office.

VOTES NOTED

6.The following Votes were also noted and the Minutes of Evidence are published herewith:

Office of the Tánaiste

An Roinn Ealaíon Cultúir agus Na Gaeltachta

An Comhairle Ealaíon

DENIS FOLEY T.D.

Chairman

4 May, 1995.