Five public bodies were late in settling bills exceeding £500,000 (#634,869) each, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform was tardy in paying bills in excess of £250 on more than 1,300 occasions in 1998, However, the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Ms Harney, welcomed the conclusions of the report that the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act had had a positive impact on payment practices right across the public service.
She said she was now "committed to extending the scope of that legislation to the private sector within the next two years".
More than half the public bodies reviewed in the report on the prompt payment of accounts made at least some late payments to suppliers. Seven bodies reported that they were late in making large payments to suppliers on more than 100 occasions.
While the majority of public bodies paid most of their bills on time, the report said some, particularly those in the education sector, needed to improve their level of timeliness of payment. Money paid late as a percentage of the total amount paid to suppliers in 1998 was up to 3.6 per cent in education sector bodies and government departments and offices, and up to 4.8 per cent in semi-states.
A total of £173,000 in penalty interest was paid in 1998 as compensation to suppliers by 73 of the 93 public bodies reviewed in the report. Seven bodies, four of which were health boards, paid more than £5,000 each in penalty interest. The highest amount of interest paid by a single body was £21,700.
Some public bodies failed to pay relatively small amounts of penalty interest due in a clear breach of the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act, the report said. Eight did not enclose interest which was due with some late payments in 1998, including the Department of Social Community and Family Affairs and Dublin City University. While the total amount of penalty interest paid is a significant sum, it represents only a very small percentage of the total value of goods and services purchased by the public bodies concerned, the report said.
