Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-17
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Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is something he has raised on many other occasions in relation to the Appropriation Bill. In terms of the wider practice, it is a Vote listed under my Department and it is also a Vote that can be used by other Government Departments in the context of the fund during the particular year. It is the only Vote operated in which the Oireachtas has waived its right to know precisely what the money has been spent on. It has always been the custom and practice not to disclose what Departments sought funds from this particular Vote. The appropriation account for the secret service, as has been said in previous years, is also audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Oireachtas votes a specific sum annually for this Vote and the Comptroller and Auditor General plays an important role with the Secretary General in terms of the overall financial control of it. There is obviously practice around why that is the case.
If an Oireachtas committee wants to have an informed debate about the Vote in terms of future practice or tradition, that is obviously something the Department can have engagement on as part of the overall Appropriation Bill. We are simply seeking to continue what has been advanced in previous years. The fact that the C and AG plays an auditing role is also important in that context.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-17