22.—(1) The Chief Executive, following the agreement of the Board, shall submit estimates of income and expenditure to the Minister in such form, in respect of such periods and at such times, as may be required by the Minister and shall furnish to the Minister any information which the Minister may require in relation to such estimates, including proposals and future plans relating to the discharge by the Board of its functions over a period of years, as required.

(2) The Chief Executive, under the direction of the Board, shall cause to be kept, on a continuous basis and in either or both a legible and a machine readable form, all proper books and records of account of all income and expenditure of the Board, and of the sources of such income and the subject matter of such expenditure, and of the property, assets and liabilities of the Board and shall keep and shall account to the Board for all such special accounts as the Minister or the Board, with the consent of the Minister, may from time to time direct should be kept.

(3) (a) The Board, the Chief Executive and any relevant member of the staff of the Board shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, permit any person appointed by the Minister to examine the books or other records of account of the Board in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination, and the Board shall pay such fee therefor as may be fixed by the Minister.

(b) In this subsection “relevant member of the staff of the Board” means a member of the staff of the Board in respect of whom there has been duly assigned duties which relate to the books or other records of account referred to in paragraph (a).

(4) (a) The accounts of the Board for each financial year shall be prepared in such a form and manner as may be specified by the Minister and be prepared by the Chief Executive and approved by the Board as soon as practicable but not later than 3 months after the end of the financial year to which they relate for submission to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit.

(b) The accounts of the Board in respect of each financial year shall as soon as practicable after having been approved by the Board in accordance with paragraph (a) be submitted by the Board to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit.

(c) A copy of the accounts referred to in paragraph (a) and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon shall be presented to the members of the Board and to the Minister as soon as practicable and the Minister shall cause a copy of these documents to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.