Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
275. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department has assessed the extent to which Circular 13/2014 is being applied consistently across Departments and Offices in respect of grants to non-statutory bodies. [36328/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra276. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any review has been carried out since 2020 of the adequacy of Service Level Agreements used by Departments and Offices when providing public funding to non-statutory bodies. [36329/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra277. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department has issued guidance to Accounting Officers on minimum governance standards for non-statutory bodies receiving majority State funding. [36330/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra278. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department has considered requiring all bodies receiving majority public funding to publish annual information on board membership, executive remuneration, audit arrangements, risk registers and compliance with applicable governance codes. [36331/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra281. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether he intends to update Circular 13/2014 to reflect current public governance expectations, including transparency, audit, value-for-money and board accountability requirements. [36334/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra282. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department has examined international models for central reporting of public funding to non-statutory bodies; and if so, which jurisdictions were reviewed. [36335/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 275, 276, 277, 278, 281 and 282 together.
As the Deputy is aware, my Department engages with other spending Departments and Offices in respect of the management of expenditure within the agreed overall fiscal parameters. The responsibility for delivering public services within allocated budgets rests with each Accounting Officer. Accounting Officers must ensure that appropriate measures are in place to achieve value for money, including in relation to the provision of funding to non-statutory bodies to deliver public services, for example in the healthcare sector.
A key part of my Department’s role is to support the appropriate use of public funds across government bodies by establishing the governance frameworks, or rules, setting out the principles and procedures for how money should be spent. The aim of these rules set out by my Department is to support Accounting Officers in discharging their responsibility to ensure expenditure is managed in line with the Voted allocation and also that services, that are provided by non-statutory bodies are delivered in an effective and efficient manner to support the achievement of value for money.
Consequently, it is the responsibility of each Accounting Officer to ensure that there is full compliance with Circular 13/2014 in granting voted expenditure that has been appropriated to their Department and which, compliance is audited by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General who reports back independently to Dáil Éireann each year and who also has the powers to inspect the accounts, books and records of any organisation that receives the majority of its funding from exchequer sources.
Also, Service Level Agreements are a key control mechanism required under Circular 13/2014 to support the achievement of value for money. Accounting Officers are responsible for ensuring that appropriate Service Level Agreements are in place for their respective sectors of public expenditure. These agreements may include provisions relating to governance and transparency, such as the publication of information on board membership, remuneration, audit arrangements, risk management and compliance with applicable governance codes. The Circular also requires all parties to a grant arrangement with a non-statutory body must ensure appropriate governance arrangements are in place which must include the oversight and administration of funding, control and safeguarding of funds from misuse, misappropriation and fraud, availability of accounting records.
Circular 13/2014 requires a high level of governance. My Department remains committed to providing the best possible guidance to Accounting Officers in the execution of their legal responsibilities in the management of public monies. In doing so, it considers international best practice and its does this by being active members of OECD working parties on public sector financial management as well as examining relevant reports of the Public Accounts Committee and the Comptroller and Auditor General to ensure that the guidelines, including Circular 13/2014 that are issued by Department continue to meet the highest standards to ensure that public monies expended provide value for money.
