The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would have powers to directly examine the finances of bodies such as the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and Pieta House under new legislation being proposed by Sinn Féin.
At present, only bodies with State funding of more than 50 per cent are obliged by law to have their finances audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG).
But the chairman of the PAC, Brian Stanley, has published a Bill which will open the door to allow scrutiny by the public funding watchdog of other organisations with smaller shares of State funding.
The Comptroller and Auditor General Bill is essentially a one-line piece of legislation that deletes the provision that requires a 50 per cent threshold for State funding.
Mr Stanley told reporters that the Bill would also allow auditing and examination of so-called section 38 and section 39 entities – those large charitable organisations in the health sector that provide services and supports for children and adults with disabilities.
The change in status, Mr Stanley said, would not mean that the C&AG would be examining the finances of every organisation that receives State funding, but it would be done when the need arose.
Accounts
“There are already 200 different set of accounts that he does as it is,” said the Laois TD. “Where the C&AG and PAC feel it necessary to do so, we could request the accounting officer to attend and examine those accounts.”
However, the Bill does not replace the current 50 per cent threshold, with a lower threshold of State funding. Theoretically, under the Bill, a large organisation which receives a small amount of State funding could fall within the remit of the Bill.
Mr Stanley agreed there was no lower percentage but argued the PAC would be sensible in its approach and the PAC comprised a “bunch of grown-ups”.
“We do not want to be tying up our time going after organisations that receive small funding,” he said, adding there were other mechanisms for doing that.
Board members of the FAI appeared before the PAC on a voluntary basis following a controversial personal loan of €100,000 made by former chief executive John Delaney to prevent an overdraft exceeding its limit. The committee was not given direct access to the association’s accounts.
However, State funding in the past has made up only a small fraction of the FAI’s income as is the case with the GAA and the IRFU.
It is expected there would be resistance to the PAC having the right to examine the entire books and finances of an organisation or body receiving a small proportion of its overall income from the exchequer.
