Minister Foley welcomes C&AG Report on Financial Governance and Reporting in ETBs

The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today (Monday 15 March) welcomed the laying before the Houses of the Oireachtas a special report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) on Financial Governance and Reporting in ETBs.

The report is the outcome of a review by the C&AG of financial management in a sample of 5 ETBs, applying a framework developed for the assessment by public sector bodies of their financial management systems, referred to as the financial management maturity model (FMMM). This report on ETBs is the first C&AG report of an examination conducted by it using this FMMM framework.

Minister Foley said:

“I welcome this report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on Financial Governance and Reporting in Education and Training Boards. The report reflects the financial management maturity of the five education and training boards concerned at the particular point in time when this review was undertaken, in late 2018 and early 2019.It is important to note that, in the intervening period, significant progress has been made to better support and enhance the financial maturity of ETBs generally.”

“I believe the report provides us with a very useful benchmark to assess the impact of the improvements made to date and the further improvements that will be progressed over the coming period. In that regard an extensive programme of work that will further support financial management in the sector is being advanced, including the rollout of payroll shared services and consolidating financial management systems across all ETBs.

“I am pleased that the report identified many instances of good practice in the financial governance and reporting systems of the ETBs examined and that it acknowledges that these practices, when applied across the sector, will improve the financial and reporting practices of ETBs.

"My Department will continue to work closely with Education and Training Boards Ireland, all ETBs and other stakeholders to improve financial maturity levels across the sector and to progress the report’s particular recommendations in this regard.”

The ETB sector has been undergoing a period of major change since the establishment of the education and training boards in 2013. A programme of improvement in the financial governance and reporting systems is ongoing.

A copy of the C&AG report is available here.

ENDS