Central Bank Act, 1997

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Examination by Comptroller and Auditor General.

77.—(1) The Comptroller and Auditor General may, in relation to the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank, carry out such examinations as he or she considers appropriate for the purposes of ascertaining—

(a) whether and to what extent the resources of the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank—

(i) have been used, and

(ii) if acquired or disposed of by the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank, have been so acquired or disposed of, economically and efficiently,

and

(b) whether any such disposal has been effected upon the most favourable terms available.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the systems, procedures and practices employed by the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank to evaluate the effectiveness of its operations may be examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

(3) The Comptroller and Auditor General may, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, prepare a special report in writing in relation to an examination carried out by him or her under this section or any general matters arising in relation to any such examination and shall submit a copy of the report to the Minister and shall, as soon as may be, submit a copy to the Bank.

(4) The Minister shall cause a copy of a report submitted under subsection (3) to be laid before Dáil Éireann not later than three months after the date of submission to him or her.

(5) The Comptroller and Auditor General may, with the consent of the Minister, require the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank to pay to the Comptroller and Auditor General a fee of an amount calculated on such basis as he or she may determine after consultation with the Minister in respect of an examination under this section in relation to the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank carried out by him or her pursuant to this Act or any other enactment.

(6) A fee under this section may be recovered by the Comptroller and Auditor General as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(7) A fee paid under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister.

(8) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in relation to a fee paid under this section.

(9) The expenses incurred by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the administration of this section shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(10) The Comptroller and Auditor General or an officer of the Comptroller and Auditor General being a person referred to in section 16 (2) of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 , for the purpose of obtaining any information that is required for the performance of his or her functions, on production, in the case of the officer, of his or her authorisation, if so requested—

(a) shall have access to and may take or at his or her request, shall be given such copies of or such extracts from such books, documents and records of the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank as he or she may reasonably require,

(b) shall have access to and may take or at his or her request, shall be given such copies of or such extracts from any data or data material of the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank as he or she may reasonably require and may extract information from any such data,

(c) may obtain from any officer, servant or employee of the Bank or any subsidiary of the Bank such information within his or her knowledge or control as he or she may reasonably require, including information in relation to the contents of any such books, documents or records as aforesaid, or in relation to the data aforesaid or the sources from which they are obtained or the data material aforesaid or any information extracted from such data.

(11) An officer of the Comptroller and Auditor General or person referred to in section 16 (2) of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 , exercising powers conferred on him or her under this section shall be authorised in writing by the Comptroller and Auditor General to exercise the powers conferred on him or her under this section for the purposes of this section.

(12) In this section “data” and “data material” have the meanings assigned to them by the Data Protection Act, 1988 .

(13) The provisions of section 16 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 , shall apply in respect of the functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General under this section.