At its today’s sitting, the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) heard explanations from the Minister of Defence, the Undersecretary for Defence Capability at the Ministry of Defence, the Commander of Estonian Defence Forces, and the Director General of the National Centre for Defence Investments regarding the shortcomings within the area of responsibility of the Ministry of Defence, which had been raised by the National Audit Office. The members of the National Defence Committee expressed their wish to receive a monthly update on the actual status of the implementation of the action plan designed to address these issues.
In its recent audit report, the National Audit Office drew attention to ongoing problems in the accounting of assets and inventories, contract management, and financial management at the Estonian Defence Forces and the National Centre for Defence Investments. According to the National Audit Office, these shortcomings increase the risk of misuse of public funds and assets, and several problems that were highlighted in previous audits have not been resolved despite the promised changes.
Chairman of the National Defence Committee Peeter Tali said that at the sitting, the Committee had been given a detailed overview of both the findings of the National Audit Office and the measures planned to resolve them.
“We take this very seriously. It is important that this time the action plan includes specific deadlines and designated responsible parties, and regular monitoring has been agreed upon. The Committee considers it necessary that regular reports on the implementation of the action plan would be submitted to both the National Audit Office and the Government, and that the planned changes become a part of the everyday work processes of the Defence Forces as well as the National Centre for Defence Investments,” Tali said.
“The National Defence Committee will also closely monitor the implementation of the action plan, because, in addition to defence capability, public trust in the management of the funds, assets and reserves allocated to the defence sector is equally important. We would like to receive a monthly report from the Ministry of Defence on the implementation of the action plan,” Peeter Tali added.
Today’s sitting of the National Defence Committee was attended by Minister of Defence Martin Herem, Undersecretary for Defence Capability at the Ministry of Defence Kadri Peeters, Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Andrus Merilo, Director of Audit at the National Audit Office Ines Metsalu-Nurminen and Director General of the National Centre for Defence Investments Elmar Vaher.