The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) (formally the Committee of Public Accounts) ( ga, An Coiste um Chuntais Phoiblí) is a
standing committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
of
Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish Parliament. It oversees
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
expenditures to ensure they are effective and honest. It is responsible for examining reports of Comptroller and Auditor General on Departmental expenditure and certain other accounts. It also considers the Comptroller and Auditor General's reports of economy, efficiency, effectiveness evaluation systems, procedures and practices. The PAC has a key role to play in ensuring accountability and
transparency in the way Government agencies allocate, spend and manage their finances and in guaranteeing that the taxpayer receives value for money for every euro spent. By the nature of its role as the public spending watchdog, the Committee of Public Accounts is one of the most powerful Oireachtas Committees.
Overview
It is established under Standing Order 163 of Dáil Éireann which requires it to be set up as a standing committee after each general election. The Committee is constituted so as to be impartially representative of the Dáil and consists of thirteen members. A member of the Government or a Minister of State can not be a member of the PAC. It is normally chaired by a member of the opposition.
Membership
As of December 2022, the members of the committee are as follows:
Chairmen of the Public Accounts Committee
It is customary for a member of the largest opposition party to chair the committee.
See also
*
Public Accounts Committee
References
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Oireachtas
Dáil Éireann
Irish budgets
Irel