Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
258. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the total number of non-statutory bodies in receipt of public funding in each year since 2020; the estimated aggregate annual funding provided to such bodies; and the proportion of that funding subject to formal governance codes equivalent to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. [32567/26]
View answer259. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any central register is maintained identifying the governance framework applicable to each publicly funded non-statutory body; if so, to provide details; and if not, whether the absence of such a register has been identified as a governance risk. [32568/26]
View answer260. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department has conducted any risk assessment regarding the reliance on differing governance codes across publicly funded bodies; and if so, to provide the findings and date of such assessment. [32569/26]
View answer261. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the mechanisms, if any, in place to ensure value-for-money, audit compliance, and board accountability in non-statutory bodies that are not subject to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. [32570/26]
View answer262. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether consideration has been given to extending the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, or an equivalent mandatory standard, to all bodies in receipt of majority State funding; and if so, to outline the status of such consideration. [32571/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 258, 259, 260, 261 and 262 together.
My Department has developed and continues to enhance the administrative accountability and governance arrangements of the State. High standards of administrative accountability are fundamental to good governance and vital to ensuring trust in public administration with a range of legislation and instruments to ensure a high degree of administrative accountability across the public sector in areas such as corporate governance, risk management, internal audit, standards in public office, freedom of information and financial reporting.
As the Deputy is aware, the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies applies only to commercial and non-commercial organisations under the aegis of Government Departments. However, there are other types of State or public bodies that are covered by different corporate governance codes that have been developed by other Departments to meet the different characteristics of each sector thereby ensuring better and more suitable governance arrangements for each organisational type.
For instance, the 18 Central Government Departments and the 27 other Vote funded Offices of Government are required to follow the Corporate Governance Standard for the Civil Service introduced by my Department as a key part of its public service reform mandate. Likewise, the 31 Local Authorities follow the Local Government Code of Governance published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Universities follow the Code of Governance for Irish Universities.
The Central Statistics Office in its Register of Public Bodies includes many non-statutory public bodies that are deemed to be under public control for statistical accounting purposes. However, many of these bodies are not owned by the State even if they are providing public services on behalf of Government Departments. These public bodies, as defined by the CSO include voluntary sector agencies that are often formed as companies limited by guarantee. Such incorporated public bodies formed in this manner can be legally independent of Government, but for the most part depend on the State for most of their funding needs. Many of these companies classified as public bodies by the CSO have been registered as charities by the Charities Regulator and, consequently, are required in their annual report to indicate compliance with the Charities Governance Code. Many of these organisations are funded by organisations such as the Health Service Executive, Tulsa and the Arts Council who disclose grantees and the values of grants in either the annual financial reports or an online database.
In relation to a central register, non-statutory organisations that meet the definition of a charity are already required to register with the Charities Regulator and those that do are given a unique registration number.
Finally, as the Deputy is aware, all Secretaries General are Accounting Officers. In their Accounting Officer role, Secretaries General are personally responsible for the stewardship of public funds appropriated to their Vote which includes responsibility for grants to non-government organisations under Public Financial Procedures and Circular 13/2014 “Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds”. Circular 13/2014 requires grantees to name all public sector grantors, the amounts of and purposes for each grant.
It is, of course, a matter for each Department and Office of Government concerned to ensure that there are appropriate oversight arrangements and structures in place to ensure that public funds granted to non-government bodies are used for the purposes agreed in each grant’s Service Level Agreement as required by Circular 13/2014. It is the responsibility of each Accounting Officer to ensure that sufficient financial reporting mechanisms, internal controls and audit systems are in place to ensure grants to non-statutory bodies are properly accounted for and provide value for money.
