THE COMPTROLLER and Auditor General, John Buckley, has today published his annual report for 2010.
The C&AG is tasked with providing independent oversight to state spending, to contribute to improvements in public administration, and to generally ensure that each government department is spending as it shld be.
His report stretches to over 1250 pages, so here is a condensed snapshot of the figures contained therein.
€83.4 million – The amount spent by the State on welfare overpayment in 2010.
2,346 – The number of people prosecuted for fraudulent welfare claims in 2010.
0 – number of cases in which overpaid pensions were recouped. In the majority of the 98 cases reviewed last year, it appeared that the claimant had died.
€116 billion – The State’s current ‘occupational pension liability bill’ for members of the public service.
€22.7 billion – The amount of cash left in the National Pension Reserve Fund as of December 31 last year. €10bn has since been placed on deposit in Irish banks.
€15.05 billion – The amount spent by the State on public procurement in 2010. €4.6bn of this was spent in the health sector alone.
€113 billion – The value of assets guaranteed by the State’s emergency bank guarantee, as of December 31.
€93.4 billion – The State’s net national debt as of the end of 2010. This had risen to €112.8 billion by mid-July given subsequent drawdowns of the EU-IMF bailout loans.
€6.972 billion – The amount of the national debt falling due this year, in short-term paper maturing at some point over 2011.
€3.619 billion – The amount spent by Ireland on servicing its national debt last year, including €979m on administration.
€725m – The amount spent by the government on bank shares last year.
€10m – The core grant paid out to the Oireachtas pension scheme for the pensions of former members of staff, as well as for former TDs and Senators.
€73.36m – The amount paid out by the State on consultancy fees relating to its stake in the banks. Around half of this was spent on financial services, while €22.5m was spent on legal services.
€98,000 – The amount spent by the National Library of Ireland producing a book on its own history. The book had to be withdrawn shortly after launch when it emerged that the tendering process was faulty.
€11.399 billion – The balance of the government’s exchequer account in the Central Bank as of December 31.
€31.753 billion – The amount taken in by the government in tax revenue last year.
€10.338 billion – The amount invested in the government’s ‘State Savings’ initiatives since they were launched.
€1.35 billion – The amount paid into the EU’s Budget by Ireland last year…
€1.88 billion – …and the amount it got back. Ireland’s net receipt of €530m is the highest it has been since 2006.
€2.68 million – The amount spent by the State on the Office of the President last year, including salaries, expenses, and administration.
€820,000 – The amount spent by the State on the Centenarian’s Bounty last year – the payment made by the government to people who live to their 100th birthday.
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