31. —(1) The chief executive, following the agreement of the Agency, 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 Agency of its functions over a period of years, as required.

(2) The chief executive, under the direction of the Agency, 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 Agency, and of the sources of such income and the subject matter of such expenditure, and of the property, assets and liabilities of the Agency and shall keep and shall account to the Agency for all such special accounts as the Minister or the Agency, with the consent of the Minister, may from time to time direct should be kept.

(3) (a) The Agency, the chief executive and any relevant member of the staff of the Agency 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 Agency in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination, and the Agency shall pay such fee therefor as may be fixed by the Minister.

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

(4) The accounts of the Agency for each financial year shall be kept in such a form and manner as may be specified by the Minister and be prepared by the chief executive and approved by the Agency 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.

(5) A copy of the accounts referred to in subsection (4) and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon shall, immediately after the audit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, be presented to the members of the Agency 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.

(6) The financial year of the Agency shall be the period of 12 months ending on 31 December in any year, and for the purposes of this section the period commencing on the establishment day and ending on the following 31 December shall be deemed to be a financial year.