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THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS Committee is to question the head of the Department of Finance over an accounting error in which a €3.6 billion payment between the state agencies the NTMA and the Housing Finance Agency was counted twice.
Minister Noonan said yesterday that he had recently been made aware of the error, but that the NTMA had contacted the department a year ago to query how the €3.6 billion was being treated in the public accounts – and did nothing about it.
Speaking in the Dáil, Noonan blamed “human error on behalf of one individual” for the mistake.
The error means that that state’s outstanding debt is 2.3 per cent of GDP less than previously calculated, but is not expected to make any impact on the coming Budget.
Secretary General of the Department of Finance Kevin Cardiff is due to take up a new position with the European Court of Auditors in March of next year. Speaking to Breakfast on Newstalk yesterday morning, chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) John McGuinness questioned the appointment.
The European Court of Auditors assesses the sound management of the public funds of EU citizens.
McGuinness also criticised what he termed the finance department’s “culture” of ignoring outside sources, including the PAC, when receiving recommendations. He said the PAC had contacted the department 22 times with recommendations on a number of issues last year, but had not received any response.
The Fianna Fáil TD said yesterday that he was seeking a report from the parties involved in the issue for a committee investigation into the error. Officials from the department, the NTMA and the CSO are to appear before the PAC today.
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“Human error on behalf of one individual” and an entire system that allows such a weak point.
Incredible that he believes this excuse is acceptable.
Anyone else see the irony of the agency in charge of statistics (i.e., numbers and stuff) being so instrumental in such a balls up?!
So the Department have ignored the PAC on 22 occasions. This latest inquiry will be worth it then. Shame really, our TD’s are very good at doing their sums – look at how good they are at maximising their expemse claims.
Still, to paraphrase a previous correspondent, it will do the clowns no harm to try and get some response from the circus.
I’d say that tails are up something mighty in the DoF since EU/ECB/IMF people have taken up desks in there. One can only imagine the daily meetings where something odd is pointed out, excuses are fumbled for, conclusions are drawn and the civil servants of the department – previously lords of all they surveyed – scuttle away to the kettle for a tea break and acerbic words about the way things are changing.
The DoF presided over our economic collapse and did nothing. It didn’t see fit to try and regulate our banks. It can’t add up its sums, and it has clearly very poor management controls. The whole place should be cleared out of the arrogant suits who, prior to the bailout, probably thought of themselves as the creme de la creme of Irish brains.
When the IMF, the EU and the ECB go home our old political parties and our old civil servants will happily slip back into their old ways.
Well put Aaron. In the private sector these guys would be fired… not for the mistake but for the apathy in not answering 22 inquiries. Are they answerable to anybody? Our politicians are able to make a mess on their own without having the wrong information.
22 recommendations last year?
Is Mr McGuinness querying the ability of the late Mr Lenihan?
Or have I completely missed the point (high likelihood)?
Each Euro coin weighs 7.5g. It would take 1,350 trucks, each laden with 20t of euro coins to get lost to highlight this paper error. Surely a good case to abolish electronic banking.
can anyone work out the compound interest on this one, or would this be like borrowing 7million from one bank to put into another for tax/end of term reasons… someone has to do jail time or large fines for messing this up to that amount.
I don’t suppose there’s any chance that the entire sorry mess can be put down to an ‘accounting error’ or the part of a few individuals who were supposed to know what they were doing?
noonan has put it down to a ‘sytem failure’
Seeing as how this amount was “lost” or “misplaced” and did not figure in the financial plans of the government who were going ahead to bring in their budget reforms without knowing about it anyway.
Could this money not go towards job creation or job retention in the country now that it has been found down the back of the cabinet!!??
Instead they turn round and say that it didn’t make much difference anyway!! €3.6BILLION doesn’t make a difference!!!
Unfortunately the error does not represent cash, it’s debt that was counted twice. There’s no extra money. We will have spent about €12 billion more in 2011 than we took in taxs.And that excludes the € 12 billion given to re-capitalise the Banks. Next year we have to get the deficit down to €8 billion!!
Who said we are not having fun.
Thanks Peter, worth a try!!
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