‘Irish Examiner’ journalist strikes blow for taxpayer

The public will soon have access to thousands of financial statements and accounts of public bodies which previously could only be accessed in limited circumstances, following a recommendation by an Irish Examiner journalist.

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard yesterday that the House of the Oireachtas has agreed to a suggestion by the Irish Examiner’s investigative correspondent, Conor Ryan, to improve access to the accounts of bodies funded by the taxpayer.

Mr Ryan pointed out that all financial statements, accounts, and auditors’ reports submitted by public bodies laid before the Oireachtas are currently only available on an internal Oireachtas website. Such documents are not available to the public at the moment unless they are also submitted to the Companies Registration Office.

A spokesperson for the Houses of the Oireachtas confirmed yesterday that such documents from all state bodies, including back catalogues from previous years, would soon be made generally available.

It means the documents of some state bodies which are not subject to freedom of information legislation, including Vocational Education Committees and third-level institutions, will be subject to public scrutiny for the first time.

Mr Ryan said the measure would greatly improve the financial transparency of public bodies and provide “a valuable safety net” given the workload of public spending watchdogs like the PAC and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Meanwhile, the PAC heard that a new household charge to replace the existing TV licence fee is unlikely to be introduced before the end of 2014.

The secretary general of the Department of Communications, Aidan Dunning, said there were a number of complex issues to be ironed out before the public broadcasting household charge could be implemented.

A value-for-money report on the structure of the new charge is due to be submitted to the Government in coming weeks.

The TV licence fee is being replaced by the new charge to reflect the reality that many people now access TV programmes from different devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has previously signalled that the new charge will not show any dramatic change from the current annual TV licence fee of €160.

Although it is a policy matter, Mr Dunning said he imagined the current free TV licence scheme for pensioners would continue to operate with the new charge.