NI Conservatives’ finance spokesman, Harry Cullen, has reacted with dismay to the waste of taxpayers’ money, across the Executive, highlighted by the Northern Ireland Audit Office’s report into financial auditing and reporting.
“Every year it seems the Auditor General exposes a litany of waste and irregularities”, Harry observed. “The issues which the NIAO raises as qualifications, across central government departments alone, amounts to over £110 million. That includes almost £70 million paid out due to fraud and error in our benefits system, at a time when parties within the executive are arguing that welfare does not need to be reformed or tightened up.”
“The department of agriculture also included £12.1 million in its accounts which it actually needs to pay out in fines for the botch it made of administering EU subsidies. This is another substantial sum of taxpayers’ money which has been wasted completely.”
“At a time when money is short and people are struggling, the executive continues to throw away money which could be creating jobs or providing services for the people of Northern Ireland. That is simply not acceptable and there must be a concerted attempt, across government, to stop the irregular practices and treat taxpayers’ pounds with respect.”