The financial and accounting rules and procedures in the CSO accord with relevant legislation and with the circulars and guidelines issued by the Department of Finance. Information is also available in the Public Financial Procedures publication.
The Director General is also the Accounting Officer. As Accounting Officer he is personally responsible for the safeguarding of public funds and property under his control; for the regularity and propriety of all the transactions in each Appropriation Account bearing his signature; and for the efficiency and economy of administration in the CSO. The Director General is responsible for ensuring that an effective system of internal financial control is maintained and operated by the Office. Full details of the role and responsibilities can be found in the Memorandum for Accounting Officers (Finance Gov Doc) and in the Public Financial Procedures Booklet. Maintaining the system of internal financial controls is a continuous process and the system and its effectiveness are kept under ongoing review.
The Director General confirms that he has fulfilled his responsibilities in relation to the Service Management Agreement between the CSO and the National Shared Service Office annually in the Appropriation Accounts. The Accounting Officer of the Vote for Shared Services provides a letter of assurance that the appropriate controls are exercised in the provision of Human Resources Shared Services to the CSO.
The CSO Audit Committee plays an important, independent and objective role in promoting best practice in the CSO through the provision of advice on the Office’s strategic processes for governance, risk management systems and internal controls and supports the operation and effectiveness of the internal audit function. The Audit Committee comprises a Chairperson and not less than three and not more than five other members appointed by the Director General. At least two members of the Audit Committee are external members, one with appropriate expertise in the business of the Office and one other with appropriate financial expertise. The Chairperson must be an external member and have right of access to the Director General. The internal members are from senior management grades of staff (Senior Statistician or Principal Officer level) and representative of different functions within the office.
The Audit Committee meets at least four times a year and has the authority to convene additional meetings as circumstances require. All committee members are expected to attend each meeting and the Comptroller & Auditor General, or his/her nominee, is invited to attend at least once a year. The Director General is invited to attend at least one Audit Committee meeting per year and the Audit Committee may invite others to attend meetings to provide specialist support. Meeting agendas are prepared and provided in advance to members by the Internal Audit Unit, along with appropriate briefing materials. Minutes are prepared and circulated to the Director General, Audit Committee members and to all other CSO Management Board members within ten working days of the date of the meeting.
The Audit Committee is independent and has its own Charter. The Committee reviews all Internal Audit Reports and also reviews and approves Internal Audit work plans – long term and annual. An annual report reviewing the Audit Committee’s operations is prepared for the Director General and submitted within 3 months following year end. This report includes an assessment on the work of the Internal Audit Unit, the supports provided to the Audit Committee and a self-assessment of the Audit Committee’s own effectiveness.
The Chairman of the Audit Committee reports directly to the Director General.
The Internal Audit Unit (IAU) in the CSO acts as an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve the office’s operations. The work of the unit helps the office accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. The unit facilitates the Director General and the Management Board in discharging their responsibilities, by conducting independent reviews and audits of policies, procedures, practices and performance, in order to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls. The unit works under an Internal Audit Charter which describes the purpose, authority and principal responsibilities of the Internal Audit Section.
The Internal Audit Standards publication defines the nature of internal auditing within central government; sets basic principles for carrying out internal audit in central government; establishes a framework for providing internal audit services, which add value to the organisation, leading to improved organisational processes and operations; and establishes the basis for the evaluation of internal audit performance and to drive improvement planning.)
The Head of Internal Audit reports:
• directly to the Director General on activities of the CSO’s Internal Audit
• to the Audit Committee
• to the Assistant Director General of the Social and Demography Directorate on administrative and budgetary matters.
Supplies, services and works are procured by the CSO in accordance with European procurement law and the policy and rules set out in the Department of Finance FOI Model Publication Scheme and the Department of Finance Public Procurement Guidelines that are available on the national e-tendering website, www.etenders.gov.ie.
In accordance with public policy all CSO procurements are made following competitive tendering. Following the award of a contract, the criteria on which the selection was based are communicated to unsuccessful tenderers on request. For procurement above certain thresholds, the approval of the Government Contracts Committee (GCC) is required if the contract is not being awarded to the lowest tender.
In the case of large contracts for supplies and services the CSO complies with the rules set out in European procurement law - in particular the EU Thresholds (exclusive of VAT) above which advertising of contracts in the Official Journal of the EU is obligatory.
IT-Related Procurements
All IT-related procurements conform with European procurement law and the relevant rules and procedures set out by the IT Control Unit of the Centre for Management and Organisation Development (CMOD) in the Department of Finance.
Current tender competitions
Details of current CSO tender competitions valued at over €25,000 are available on www.etenders.gov.ie.
Public contracts awarded
Details of contracts valued over €25,000 (ex VAT) awarded by the CSO are available here.
Puchase Orders
Details of Purchase Orders valued over €20,000 (incl. VAT) awarded by the CSO are available here.
Internal procedures have been put in place in order to comply with the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act, 1997 as amended by the European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) (S.I. No. 580 of 2012). Prompt Payments Reports are posted on the CSO website.
Following the move to the Shared Services environment the CSO has retained the accounting function for all expenditure on the CSO vote that is the accounting function for payroll and all payments. The processing of the payroll has moved to Shared Services. The Finance Unit provides a professional, efficient and confidential service that adheres to government regulations, conforms to current legislative practice and meets the requirements of internal and external customers: The financial and accounting rules and procedures in the CSO accord with relevant legislation and with the circulars and guidelines issued by the Department of Finance and in the Public Financial Procedures publication.
The CSO manages risk in a number of different ways within the organisation and it is an integral part of most of the processes. The CSO operates a risk management framework which is the process by which risks are identified, analysed, assessed, managed, monitored and recorded. As part of this process a divisional risk management template is issued to Heads of Division twice a year. The template assists management in identifying, analysing, assessing and managing the possibility of any event occurring which could have a negative impact on the achievement of the Office’s objectives.
The completed template is discussed in the twice yearly DAPs process between individual Heads of Division and the Management Board and controls to mitigate risk are agreed. The completed templates lead to the development of individual directorate risk registers and to the release of a corporate risk register.
Risk management is also built into the CSO’s project management processes and it is overseen by the Transformation and Performance Board and the Project Governance Board. Risk management is considered and reviewed by the Audit Committee and the Internal Audit Unit. IT risks are reviewed by the IT Governance Board. Risks around quality and methodology are considered by the newly created Quality Management, Support and Assurance Division and by the Methodology Division.
The Corporate Compliance Framework is outlined in Figure 4.1 below. It includes the Audit process both internal where the Internal Audit unit provides an independent opinion on the adequacy and compliance with internal controls; and the external audit process whereby the C&AG provides independent scrutiny of the effectiveness of the financial control environment.
It includes the risk management process whereby risk is identified, assessed, evaluated and mitigated against, the risk management reporting template for all Heads of Division reviewed twice a year and the Directorate and Corporate Risk Registers. The Management Board has a considerable role to play in assurance as they receive and provide reports on performance and risk management to inform key decisions.
The model includes details regarding international external assurance such as the Eurostat Peer Review process, external assurance via the C&AG auditing process, internal assurance in the form of the Corporate Governance Assurance Statement (CGAS) and internal management.
Figure 4.1:
The CSO introduced a Corporate Governance Assurance Statement (CGAS) in October 2015 to better support governance in the CSO. The scheme was piloted earlier in the year. CGAS has been created to assist Heads of Division in managing their corporate responsibilities and to provide an indication to the Management Board of the effectiveness of devolved responsibility in the Office.
There are six corporate management control areas and a declaration form for each Head of Division to acknowledge their responsibility for maintaining the system of internal control. The control areas are Corporate Governance, Quality Management and Assurance, Information Assurance and Security (Data Handling), Project Management/EU Contracts, Procurement Management and Staff Management.
There are six category levels of compliance to provide each Head of Division with the ability to be objective about their internal control systems, provide management information, and identify areas to be improved. Heads of Division are asked to identify areas for improvement within the next six months and are asked to identify the approach being taken. Progress is evaluated in six months as part of the DAPs process. In addition the returns are examined to see if there are any issues which are arising across the organisation and require an organisation wide response.
This approach provides assurance to the Director General that the CSO can respond efficiently to significant business, operational and financial risks or changes, and provides the Head of Division with the opportunity to review their own internal controls and practices.
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