Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2026
547. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether an invoice can be paid by his Department without an associated purchase order having first been raised; if so, the circumstances in which this may occur; the number and value of payments made during quarter one of 2026 which were not associated with a purchase order; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45178/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's financial management system is currently operated on a shared service basis by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Financial Shared Services Centre. Through that system, the vast majority of payments require an associated purchase order to be raised prior to payment of an invoice. However, in certain circumstances, a manual payment process is required for which a purchase order is not required.
Authorisation limits, set by grade, are approved by my Department's Management Board and these limits are automatically applied on the Department’s financial management system for all invoice payments, whether or not the invoice has an associated purchase order.
In Q1 2026, 394 invoice payments with a total value of €1,057,903 were issued without an associated purchase order having first been raised. This represents approximately 0.37% of the Department's spend in Q1. Of the total, just under €821,000 relates to fees which are debited to a suspense account prior to recoupment to the Department.
