asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will establish internal audit organisations for health and education boards, borstals, remand homes, teacher training colleges and the Ulster polytechnic, so as to provide the responsible permanent secretaries with an assurance that financial control systems are adequate and operating effectively.

I am satisfied that effective controls already exist. There are internal audit branches within the education and library and health and social services boards and the Ulster polytechnic. The accounts of remand homes and borstals are audited by the internal audit branch of the Northern Ireland Office, while the accounts of the three teacher training colleges are audited by officials of the Department of Education.