The Parliamentary session on Tuesday also welcomed the chairman of the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) which presented a report on its activities in 2017. Parliament acknowledged the report with only opposition MPs taking the floor in the debate.
As Karol Mitrík informed, last year the office carried out 33 audits, inspecting almost 300 public administration bodies and identifying 2,245 shortcomings, including violations of laws. Moreover, the office filed 16 criminal complaints, 13 motions to the Public Procurements Office (ÚVO) and 20 motions to the Finance Ministry. According to the report, there have been serious shortcomings in the preparation of projects, which jeopardises the drawing of EU funds. "The substantive audit findings included in the annual report show that there is still considerable scope for public administration bodies to spend public funds more efficiently, but especially more effectively," said Mitrík.
In this respect, the opposition pointed at the actual findings e.g. the spending of EU funds at the Education, Agriculture or Transport Ministries. Shortcomings were cited also in the health resort and in the control of self-governing regions. Eduard Heger from the SaS party quoted the Supreme Audit Office report's lines regarding the balanced budget. "Meeting the task of the balanced budget of the state administration has been delayed several times. That's why the Supreme Audit Office sees a risk in acheiving a balanced budget in 2020 (as required by the EU, ed. note)."
The coalition MPs entered the debate only with occasional comments. The largest coalition party SMER-SD MP, Jana Vaľová: "Yes, let the Audit Office do its job but don't claim that everything is based on criminal offences. Let the office also give advice on what to do better." Opposition OĽaNO MP Ján Budaj reacted: "The Supreme Audit Office is starting to fulfil its role as a trustworthy institution of the Slovak Republic for which it was created."
Parliament subsequently acknowledged the audit office's annual report.
