Report for presentation to the Houses of the Oireachtas
National Treasury Management Agency – Administration Account

Opinion on financial statements

I have audited the administration account of the National Treasury Management Agency (the Agency) for the year ending 31 December 2017 as required under the provisions of section 12 of the National Treasury Management Agency Act 1990 (as amended). The administration account comprises

• the statement of income and expenditure and other comprehensive income
• the statement of financial position
• the statement of changes in capital
• the statement of cash flows and
• the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

In my opinion, the administration account gives a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities and financial position of the Agency at 31 December 2017 and of its income and expenditure for 2017 in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102 – The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Basis of opinion

I conducted my audit of the financial statements in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) as promulgated by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions. My responsibilities under those standards are described in the appendix to this report. I am independent of the Agency and have fulfilled my other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the standards.

I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.

Report on information other than the financial statements, and on other matters

The Agency has presented certain other information together with the financial statements. This comprises the Agency’s annual report (including the governance statement and Agency members’ report) and the statement on internal control. My responsibilities to report in relation to such information, and on certain other matters upon which I report by exception, are described in the appendix to this report.

Non – effective expenditure

The Agency has disclosed in the statement on internal control that capitalised costs of €746,000 relating to the development of a treasury management IT system were written off in 2017. Another €107,000 was incurred in 2016 and 2017 in contractor expenses on the project. The project has now been terminated. As the planned IT system was not delivered, the Agency has incurred a total of €853,000 in non-effective expenditure.

Procurement

Public procurement guidelines require all contracts for supplies and services with an estimated value of €25,000 or above to be advertised publicly, other than in justifiable exceptional circumstances. The Agency discloses in the statement on internal control that it spent €6.2 million under contracts for goods and services in 2017 that were not publicly advertised. Explanations for the procurement approach adopted in relation to those contracts are also provided.

31 May 2018