31AG.—(1) The Office shall—

(a) submit estimates of income and expenditure to the Minister in such form, in respect of such periods and at such times as may be specified by the Minister, and

(b) provide to the Minister any information which the Minister may require regarding those estimates and also regarding the proposals and plans of the Office in respect of a period specified by the Minister.

(2) The Office shall keep, in such form and in respect of such accounting periods as may be approved of by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, all proper and usual accounts of moneys received and spent by the Office, including an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet.

(3) (a) The Planning Regulator and any relevant member of the staff of the Office shall, whenever so required by the Minister, permit any person appointed by the Minister to examine the accounts of the Office in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination, and the Office shall pay to the Minister such fee for the examination as may be fixed by the Minister.

(b) In this subsection ‘relevant member of the staff’ means a member of the staff of the Office to whom duties relating to those accounts have been duly assigned.

(4) (a) The accounts of the Office shall be approved by the Planning Regulator as soon as is practicable (but not later than 3 months after the end of the accounting period to which they relate) and submitted by it to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit.

(b) A copy of the accounts and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on them shall be presented to the Planning Regulator and the Minister as soon as is practicable, and the Minister shall cause a copy of the accounts and report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.]