THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs has refused to release details of seven internal audit reports carried out following visits to countries supported by Irish Aid over the past two years.
In a letter outlining its decision, following a Freedom of Information request from this newspaper, it said the information provided by "external parties" is given "in confidence to the department".
"Disclosure of this information could be detrimental to the department's programme and to Ireland's international relations with partner governments, international organisations and other donor countries," it states.
"In addition, Ireland's relationship with the international non-governmental organisation community could suffer as a result of disclosure."
The State spent € 814 million in 2006 on projects in more than 90 countries, with the overall total representing 0.5 per cent of the country's gross national product (GNP). This figure is set to increase significantly by 2012, as the Government aims to spend 0.7 per cent of GNP by this time.
In a written response to a Dáil question last February, Michael Kitt, Minister of State for Overseas Development, said the main objective of Irish Aid's audit programme is to gain assurance that funds granted are used for the purposes intended.
"As systems of control in developing countries are often weak, Irish Aid works closely with partner governments and other organisations to improve their financial and accounting systems," he said.
"The Evaluation and Audit Unit conducts a series of audit visits annually to Irish Aid's programme countries. During 2006 and 2007, the unit carried out eight such visits."
However, when The Irish Times sought copies of the reports resulting from these visits, the department said reports on seven of these visits in fact exist.
But for the reasons outlined in its letter, it would only release part of one report. This two-page document represents the minutes of a meeting between Irish Aid "heads of mission" in Dar es Salaam in October 2006, at which audit issues were discussed.
These included the need to pay attention to "conflict of interest" issues and the importance of the presence of an internal auditor on each mission.