The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) () is the constitutional officer responsible for public audit in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is the public audit body for the Republic of Ireland and is headed by the C&AG. The Comptroller and Auditor General is ex-officio member of the

Standards in Public Office Commission The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) () is an independent body established in December 2001 by the Government of Ireland, Irish Government under the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. It replaced the Public Offices Commission which h ...

and was an ex-officio member of the

Referendum Commission A Referendum Commission () was an independent statutory body in Ireland which had been set up in advance of referendums in Ireland from 1998 to 2019. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provided for the establishment of ...

, before it was superseded by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

. The C&AG is a member of the

International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is an intergovernmental organization whose members are supreme audit institutions. Nearly every supreme audit institution in the world is a member of INTOSAI. Depending on th ...

. The current Comptroller and Auditor-General is Seamus McCarthy (since 28 May 2012).

Constitutional officer and independence

The office of Comptroller and Auditor General was established under Article 33 of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

. The C&AG is appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

on the nomination of

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

. The office has its origins in Article 62 of the

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State () was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,

of 1922 as implemented by the Comptroller and Auditor-General Act 1923, which provided that the Comptroller and Auditor-General () (as the office was then known) was to be appointed by

. The 1923 Act and the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 are the two principal legislative instruments governing the C&AG. Both the Constitutional and legislative provisions ensure the absolute independence of the C&AG and the Office of the C&AG to operate independently of government. The C&AG makes reports to

on the accounts of bodies falling within its remit, essentially the State or State bodies and certain specified agencies or bodies receiving State funds. The reports are examined in detail by the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts ().

Function

The Comptroller and Auditor General audits and reports on the use of public funds. It establishes that they are legal and used appropriately. It also examines the internal audit systems of public bodies and applies tests for value for money and effectiveness. The bodies to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General are laid down by law. The Comptroller and Auditor General may receive new audit mandates from time to time regarding specific state bodies. It may lose its functions when bodies are dissolved, merged or rationalised. The C&AG may not audit all recipients of state funding but only where audits of the recipient bodies are permitted or required by law. As a result, some bodies which receive a large amount of state funding or even are reliant on it, may not be subject to audit by the C&AG. This also has consequences for the remit of the Dáil

Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

(PAC). The C&AG has permanent status as a witness at the PAC, and attends all meetings in person or deputes a senior staff official to attend instead.

Annual reports on the Accounts of the Public Service

The C&AG makes an annual report under the heading "Accounts of the Public Services" on funding granted by the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

. This includes the accounts of 41 government departments and offices, including the establishment of the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

, as well as bodies such as the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

, prisons service, and the secret service. It publishes the relevant annual appropriation accounts together with the annual reports.

Health sector

The C&AG is responsible for auditing institutions in the health sector such as the Health Service Executive (HSE) and all regional health boards. It also audits specified hospitals, and a variety of health-related state agencies. It does not audit privately owned hospitals even though they may be in receipt of, or even reliant on, public funds. If the C&AG considers problematic issues arise in relation to a regional health board which merit a public accountability audit, it may issue what is known as a Section 6 report, authorised by Section 6 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993.

Educational sector

In the education sector, the C&AG audits all Irish Universities, institutes of technology and other specified third-level educational institutions such as the

National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of t ...

. It audits all vocational educational committees. It also audits specified state bodies related to education such as the Higher Education Authority and the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. If the C&AG considers problematic issues arise in relation to a Vocational Education Committee which merit a public accountability, it may issue what is known as a Section 7 report, authorized by Section 7 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993.

Financial sector

The Comptroller and Auditor General audits 25 state bodies in the financial sector including the

National Treasury Management Agency The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA; , GBCN) is the agency that manages the assets and liabilities of the Government of Ireland. It was established on 1 December 1990 to borrow for the Central Fund and manage the national debt. Since t ...

(NTMA) and the

National Asset Management Agency The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA; ) is a body created by the Government of Ireland in late 2009 in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble. NAMA functions as a '' bad bank'', acquiring ...

(NAMA).

Other audited bodies

The Comptroller and Auditor General audits a very wide variety (115 in 2012) of State bodies or agencies as diverse as the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ) is Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is "To collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the ...

, the

Road Safety Authority The Road Safety Authority (RSA; ) is a state agency of the Irish Government to promote road safety within Ireland. The agency has functions devolved from the Department of Transport. History and Governance The Road Safety Authority was establ ...

and the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

. It audits all 35 County Enterprise Boards.

North/South bodies

The Comptroller and Auditor General carries out audits of the annual accounts of designated North/South public bodies with cross-border functions or activities relating to both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. These reports are prepared jointly with the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland. Where it is considered that an issue of public accountability arises, a report is drawn up. An interesting example of cross-border cooperation between the two comptrollers and auditors general is seen in the Bytel cross-border broadband project where the Northern Ireland Audit Office and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Ireland made a coordinated examination of the Bytel project. Although the two comptrollers and auditors general issued separate reports, they were issued simultaneously on 3 March 2015 and the report of each comptroller and auditor general was annexed to the report of the other. This coordinated examination was the first time this approach has been used.

Value for money reports

The office publishes special reports on value-for-money according to orthodox value-for-money criteria (efficiency, economy, effectiveness evaluation systems, procedures, practices) used by public audit bodies.

Special reports

The C&AG from time to time publishes special reports on specific or general issues arising from audits, inspections or examinations carried out by him or his office.

Bodies not audited

The C&AG does not audit commercial semi-state bodies even when these are overwhelmingly owned by the state. Examples include the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) or

Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board") is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland co ...

(the Peat Board) both of which are 95% owned by the state. Likewise it does not audit the accounts of

Irish Water ( , Irish: ), formerly and commonly known as Irish Water, is a state-owned water utility company in Ireland. It was created by the Irish Government in 2013 as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis. Water and wastewater services were previously provid ...

List of Comptroller and Accountant General prior to 1923

*1684 - James Bonnell *1700 - William de Burgh of Bert, MP *1720 - Eustace Budgell *1734 - Agmondisham Vesey *1794 - John Richardson

List of Comptroller and Auditors General since 1923

*1923 – George McGrath *1944 – John Maher *1949 – William Eugene Wann *1953 – Liam Ó Cadhla *1964 – Eugene Suttle *1973 – Sean Mac Gearailt *1981 – P.L. McDonnell *1994 – John Purcell *2008 – John Buckley *2012 – Seamus McCarthy

Notes and references

External links

*
www.intosai.org
{{authority control Government audit Politics of the Republic of Ireland Government agencies of the Republic of Ireland Supreme audit institutions