Unconvincing and unreliable bookkeeping of the ICT acquired in connection with the Schengen acquis
Press Release – November 13, 2008
From March to September 2008, auditors from the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) performed an audit of the finances spent from 2005 to 2007 on acquisition of the informational and communicational technologies connected with the Schengen acquis. The audit conclusion informs that Ministry of the Interior controlled the programmes perfectly, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fulfilled their duties insufficiently.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not keep sufficient records of the costs of individual programmes. The data concerning the funds’ utilisation were not convincing or reliable“, said president of the SAO František Dohnal.
The information system was guaranteed by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs co-guaranteed the introduction of the Visa Information System. Informational and communicational technologies that were introduced in connection with the Schengen acquis are engaged within the internal structures of the ministries (including the data lines and servers) and their hardware equipments that are used for other purposes too.
Costs of the implementation of the Schengen acquis cannot be technically specified or separated off the other information technologies’ acquisitions. The expenses from 2005 to 2007 were expressed numerically on the bases of the ministries’ skilled estimates: CZK 789.9 million with the Ministry of Interior and CZK 15.1 million with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The documentations of the programme No. 206 010 – Development and reconstruction of the material and technical bases of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of the sub-programme No. 206 011 – Acquisition, reconstruction, and operating of the ICT systems of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not mention connections of the programmes with the implementation of the Schengen acquis. “The programme No. 106 010 – Development and reconstruction of the material and technical bases of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did mention the connection, but the realisation of the Visa Information System was not defined as an individual action, which could lead to continual mistakes in the costs’ bookkeeping“, said president Dohnal.
The auditing operation was included into the 2008 Audit Plan of the SAO under No. 08/09. Ludmila Brynychová, Member of the SAO Board, controlled the operation and drew up the audit conclusion as well.
Radka Burketová
Press Speaker
Supreme Audit Office