Principal Officer, Financial Control

Finance Branch: The function of Accounts Branch is to fund and reconcile all payments, to record receipts and bring all payment & receipts to account. The Branch makes corporate and administration payments and some scheme arrears payments. It prepares the statutory and management accounts for the Department including those used to report monthly to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the EU/IMF. The Branch is responsible for ensuring continuity in payment delivery services.

Payment Strategy: To oversee and drive the implementation of the Department's Payment Strategy which will modernise the payment approaches adopted by the Department to deliver payments to customers and progressively replace cash and paper-based payment instruments with electronic payments. The modernisation programme is designed to deliver more cost effective and efficient arrangements, which are consistent with the National Payments Plan and includes the provision of robust contingency arrangements and anti-fraud measures.