Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998
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Accounts and audits. |
26.—(1) The chief executive, following the agreement of the Board, shall submit estimates of income and expenditure to the Minister in such form, in respect of such periods, and at such times as may be required by the Minister and shall furnish to the Minister any information which the Minister may require in relation to such estimates, including proposals and future plans relating to the discharge by the Authority of its functions over a period of years, as required. | |
(2) The chief executive, under the direction of the Board, shall cause to be kept on a continuous basis proper books of account of all income and expenditure of the Authority, and of the sources of such income and the subject matter of such expenditure, and of the property, assets and liabilities of the Authority and shall keep and shall account to the Board for all such special accounts as the Minister or the Board, with the consent of the Minister, may from time to time direct should be kept. | ||
(3) The financial year of the Authority shall be the period of 12 months ending on the 31st day of December in any year, and for the purposes of this section and section 25 the period commencing on the establishment day and ending on the following 31st day of December, shall be deemed to be a financial year. | ||
(4) The Board, the chief executive and the other officers of the Authority shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, permit any person appointed by the Minister to examine the books and accounts of the Authority in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination, and the Authority shall pay such fee therefor as may be fixed by the Minister. | ||
(5) The accounts of the Authority for each financial year shall be prepared in such form and manner as may be specified by the Minister. The accounts shall be prepared by the chief executive and approved by the Board as soon as practicable but not later than three months after the end of the financial year to which they relate for submission to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit. A copy of the accounts and the auditor's report thereon shall be presented to the members of the Board and to the Minister as soon as practicable and the Minister shall cause a copy of these documents to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. | ||
(6) The chief executive shall be the accountable person in relation to the accounts of the Authority and shall, whenever he or she is so required by a Committee of Dáil Éireann established under Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann to examine and report to Dáil Éireann on the appropriation accounts and reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, give evidence to that Committee on— | ||
(a) the regularity and propriety of the transactions recorded or required to be recorded in any account subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General which the chief executive or the Authority is required by or under statute to prepare, | ||
(b) the economy and efficiency of the Authority in the use of its resources, | ||
(c) the systems, procedures and practices employed by the Authority for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of its operations, and | ||
(d) any matter affecting the Authority referred to in a special report of the Comptroller and Auditor General under section 11 (2) of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 , or in any other report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (in so far as it relates to a matter specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c)) that is laid before Dáil Éireann. |