Economics

The North/South Bodies, set up under the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement have come under scrutiny from the Northern Ireland Assembly Public Accounts Committee. Speaking at the launch of their first report into the bodies, Paul Maskey MLA, Chairperson of the Committee, said: “Our evidence session with North/South Bodies was very informative and proved to be a useful first contact. The Committee used this opportunity to examine general issues that apply to all the Bodies. In addition, we looked at issues specific to InterTradeIreland, which encourages cross-border business development and to the Special EU Programmes Body which administers the PEACE and INTERREG programmes. “Since North/South Bodies are funded jointly by the Northern Ireland Assembly and Dáil Ếireann in varying proportions, we examined how these arrangements are working in practice and whether they are supporting high standards of financial management and accountability.” The Committee addressed issues in a number of areas including the timely provision of accounts, inconsistencies in governance arrangements, retention of cash reserves, the complexity of EU programmes and measuring the impact of PEACE programmes. Mr Maskey added: “I particularly welcome comments from the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, and Finance and Personnel that their oversight arrangements for their respective North/South Bodies are the same as exist for any other sponsored body, with the additional consideration of their corresponding Department in the Republic of Ireland. This is a sound principle which the Committee endorses.” “This has proven to be a worthwhile exercise in our oversight of North/South Bodies. I found our discussions with our counterparts in Dáil Ếireann particularly useful, as it provided us with an opportunity to co-ordinate our work and so examine a wider range of bodies. As we move forward, I am in no doubt that we will return to this subject to ensure that progress has been made in the implementation of our recommendations.”


GOVERNMENT SPENDING POWER SHOULD BOOST LOCAL ECONOMY



Posted: 30 Jun 2010 05:10 AM PDT



Government purchasing power should be used with greater effect to support the local economy. That was the message from the Committee of Finance and Personnel which today gave a cautious welcome to the response from the Procurement Board, to its recent Inquiry into public procurement in Northern Ireland. The Procurement Board is made up of all Departmental Permanent Secretaries and is chaired by the Finance and Personnel Minister. Committee Chairperson, Jennifer McCann, MLA said: “In this era of increasing pressure on public expenditure, it is vital to provide opportunities for our local SMEs and those in the social economy sector. Government procurement is a key strategic tool which the Executive can use to help community based businesses. “The Committee welcomes the Procurement Board’s action plan, considered at our meeting today. We are pleased to see the introduction of a Fair Payment Charter which will ensure sub-contractors receive the benefits from earlier payments to the main contractor. We also welcome the Board’s commitment to measure the benefit that a business can provide for their communities as part of the environment in which a tender application is judged. “However, there is much work to be done in relation to the use of framework agreements. These agreements, which effectively pre-select companies entitled to tender for government contracts, were a key issue raised by stakeholders during our inquiry. We believe that it is also important to build the capacity of community based businesses and the Committee calls for the Board to address these issues. ”Further work is required to ensure that our communities get the most out of the long-term positive social, economic and environmental outcomes from public procurement expenditure. This commitment by the Procurement Board is a start.”