THE AMOUNT of money being put into the Irish secret service has almost doubled in the past 15 years, according to briefing documents prepared for the Public Accounts Committee earlier this year.
More than €6 million has been spent on the secret service fund since 1995. However, the amount being spent in 2009, some €601,000, is almost twice that spent in 1995 when just under €309,000 was spent.
The amount of money put aside for the secret service “vote” or fund has increased year-on-year since 2004, ranging between €767,000 that year to €900,000 in 2009. However, the full amount put aside for the secret service is never used and in 2009 the surplus stood at €298,000. An estimate of €1 million has been put aside for the fund in 2010.
The amount spent on the secret service averaged €372,409 between 1995 and 2006. However, the amount spent on the secret service jumped to €516,282 in 2007. Just under €608,000 was spent in 2008 and slightly less, €601,762, in 2009.
According to parliamentary questions answered by former ministers, the purpose of the secret service is to obtain information necessary for the security of the country.
The appropriation account of the vote for the secret service is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, who is furnished with certificates from the responsible ministers which support the expenditure in the account.
On the basis of these certificates the Comptroller and Auditor General expresses an opinion that the annual accounts properly present the expenditure of the vote.
The secret service vote, which allocates money to a number of departments, is administered by the Department of Finance.
However, when contacted by The Irish Timesin relation to the secret service a spokesman would not be drawn on its purpose or the number of people who were involved in administrating it.
“Unfortunately there is very little that I can say in relation to the secret service vote except that the Secretary General of the Department of Finance is the accounting officer for the vote,” he said.
“The secret service vote is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Buckley, to ensure the expenditure is correct.”