Our Role
The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland (C&AG) is the head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO). The NIAO supports the C&AG in fulfilling her responsibilities. The C&AG and the NIAO are wholly independent of Government.
The C&AG is responsible for;
- authorising the issue of money from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund to enable Northern Ireland Departments to meet their necessary expenditure, and for ensuring that there are adequate arrangements for the collection of revenue; and
- the external audit of central government bodies in Northern Ireland, including Northern Ireland departments and their executive agencies and a wide range of other public sector bodies, including executive non-departmental public bodies and health and social care bodies. The C&AG undertakes financial audit and value for money audit and the results of this work are reported to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The C&AG works closely with the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee which takes evidence from senior officials on reports.
The current Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland is Dorinnia Carville.
The audit of local government bodies including district councils is undertaken by NIAO staff designated by the Department for Communities as the Local Government Auditor. The Local Government Auditor is responsible for the audit of Northern Ireland District Councils and report the results of their work to the Department for Communities. The current Local Government Auditor is Colette Kane. More information is available on the Our Work section of the website.
The status, functions and main duties of the C&AG, Local Government Auditor and the NIAO are set down in legislation.
Our Vision
Our Vision is "Independence and excellence in audit to improve public services". This Vision is supported by our Purpose and Values
Senior Leadership Team
The Senior Management Team is responsible for the running of the NIAO, having full regard to the advice of the NIAO Advisory Board. The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland (C&AG) is the head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO).
Operational activities are led by our Chief Operating Officer (COO) - Rodney Allen.
In carrying out their functions, the C&AG and COO are supported by the NIAO Directors. More information on our senior management structure and respective responsibilities can be found on the Senior Leadership Team page.