In the 2024–2025 financial year, SAI Singapore audited the Ministry of Education regarding the administration of Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA)* funds used to pay for courses and other services provided by Post-Secondary Education organizations. SAI conducted a sample check of fund disbursements fr om PSEAs to the accounts of three training centers. The total amount of such funds for the period fr om April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2024, was SGD 30.09 million (USD 23 million). SAI found that one of the three training centers lacked adequate controls to verify the validity of the payments. Furthermore, it was found that unused PSEA funds totaling SGD 116 000 (USD 90 000) accumulated at the accounts of training centers due to the following irregularities: - 299 instances where funds were deducted multiple times (two and four times) for the same course, or where the deducted amount exceeded the established course fee; - 8 instances wh ere a student processed payments for eight courses at a single training center but did not actually enroll in any of them. Under applicable regulations, unused PSEA funds must be returned to the students' accounts. However, as of December 2024, the training center did not process such refunds. SAI identified shortcomings in the administration of PSEA funds and highlighted the need for the Ministry to strengthen its oversight of training centers, noting that the Ministry of Education’s supervision had previously been limited to providing students with monthly transaction statements and annual account status reports. At the same time, the procedure for withdrawing funds had been progressively tightened since 2022, requiring students to authenticate via the Singpass system to confirm each debit transaction. The auditors welcomed the pilot project launched by the Ministry of Education in December 2023, which engaged auditors to conduct in-depth inspections of selected training centers. Upon completion of the audit, the Ministry of Education informed SAI that the training centers had returned all unused funds to PSEA accounts in full. The Ministry was advised to verify whether any training centers had made duplicate charges over the past six years and to consider implementing systemic controls to prevent such occurrences in the future. Furthermore, the Ministry was recommended to require training centers to submit annual declarations confirming the legitimacy of fund charges and the timely return of unused amounts. * The Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) is a Singaporean account for funding post-secondary education; it is opened automatically when certain conditions are met—such as a citizen turning 13 and having a remaining balance in their Child Development Account (a special savings account established at birth). The government provides matching contributions to PSEA up to a specified lim it until the citizen reaches the age of 20. Funds in the account can be transferred between siblings, parents can also make contributions. PSEA is administered by the Ministry of Education of Singapore.

The strategy provides a roadmap for the development of the Office over the coming years, for the benefit of Irish citizens, members of the Oireachtas, the bodies we audit and our staff. Our mission To add value to public services in Ireland through high quality audit services, focused on the proper and effective use of public resources, providing transparency to the citizens of Ireland and strengthening public accountability. We will leverage the use of emerging and established technologies to drive innovation, enhance productivity and streamline operations within the Office. The focus in this strategy is on - using data analytics, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies in an agile and considered way to maximise their benefits - continuing our commitment to cybersecurity and information security - using technology to improve how we communicate our work, and - enhancing the Office’s business information systems.

Bases for decision-making, such as Federal Council dispatches and explanatory statements on votes, often make use of quantitative forecasts. These forecasts provide Parliament and the electorate with an idea of the expected impact if a given legislative proposal is accepted. By supporting decision-making, forecasts make an important contribution to upholding the fundamental right to the free expression of will. High forecast quality is thus crucial to the functioning of direct democracy. In the past, problems repeatedly arose with federal forecasts. For example, in 2018 the Federal Supreme Court struck down the popular vote on abolishing the marriage penalty because the underlying estimate was faulty. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) had already observed problems with forecasting in 2016. In response, in 2020 the Federal Council adopted a series of measures to improve forecast quality. These measures included the Federal Chancellery’s guidelines on forecasts in dispatches and explanatory statements.

In Switzerland, approximately 750,000 people are exposed to harmful or disruptive traffic noise – primarily road noise. Road noise generates annual external costs of around CHF 2 billion, resulting from adverse health effects and a decline in property values. To combat road noise, there is a legal obligation to rehabilitate roads. Road rehabilitation was supposed to have been completed by 2002 but was extended to 2015 (national roads) and 2018 (other roads). In 2021, the Federal Council extended financial support for the cantons indefinitely, thereby defining road rehabilitation as a permanent task. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined whether the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) had implemented key recommendations from 2021 regarding the management, financing, and monitoring of noise abatement measures for roads. 1. Impact-based lump sums introduced The FOEN is providing financial assistance for noise reduction in a transparent and systematic manner as impact-based lump sums, in accordance with the current programme agreement. 2. Risk-based monitoring concept not yet implemented An office-wide risk-oriented supervision concept exists but the FOEN has not yet applied the risk-oriented approach. In particular, a clearly documented risk analysis is lacking. 3. Data collection not yet fully modernised The programme agreement application (PV-App) significantly improves how the programme agreement is created and managed. However, collecting data for cantonal road noise projects still involves a significant amount of manual work. 4. Lack of transparency regarding cantonal relief The process for the planned improvement in transparency regarding cantonal relief decisions is in its initial phase, meaning that at the time of the follow-up audit, no documentation or timetable was available.

La Cour des comptes a transmis son rapport annuel 2025 à la Chambre des représentants. Son rapport annuel 2025 met tout d’abord en lumière son organisation et la manière dont elle y intègre la durabilité. Il présente par ailleurs un état des lieux de l’avancement de son plan stratégique 2025-2029, donne un aperçu de ses contrôles et missions, de ses activités extérieures et relations internationales de même que des audits qu’elle a publiés en 2025. Le rapport consacre enfin une attention particulière au suivi des recommandations que la Cour des comptes a formulées lors de précédents audits. Informations pour la presse La Cour des comptes contrôle les finances publiques fédérales, communautaires, régionales et provinciales. Elle contribue à améliorer la gestion publique en transmettant aux assemblées parlementaires, aux gestionnaires et aux services contrôlés des informations utiles et fiables, résultant d’un examen contradictoire. Organe collatéral du Parlement, la Cour travaille de façon indépendante des pouvoirs qu’elle contrôle.