How to Lose (and Regain) 3.6 Billion Euros

Abstract

This chapter imagines a conversation between two senior civil servants when they realize that the Irish government has lost 3.6 billion euros through a spreadsheet error. The Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance reports to the General Secretary that the accountant was not sure how to classify a loan to the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). They had assumed that it might be adjusted for elsewhere in the General Government Debt calculations, but it was not. As such, the government debt appears twice in the national accounts, once as an asset for the NTMA and once as a liability for the HFA. The General Secretary then asks why the data entry error was not picked up. The Assistant Secretary answers that everybody assumed that somebody else had dealt with it. The accounts got returned, nobody spotted the mistake, and everyone moved onto to other tasks.