At the plenary session of the Sejm, NIK President Marian Banaś presented the Members of the Sejm with the Report on NIK’s activity in 2019.
Mr Speaker and Members of the Sejm,
While fulfilling my constitutional and statutory duty, I would like to present the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with the Report on the activity of the Supreme Audit Office in 2019.
The report was ratified by the Council of NIK on 1 July 2020.
The mission of the Supreme Audit Office is an independent, professional audit of public tasks in the interest of citizens and the state. We will attempt to strengthen the auditing capacity of NIK, among others by means of the recently adopted Strategy of the Supreme Audit Office for 2021-2024, the first one in 18 years.
As a supreme institution of public audit we are going to rely on the values and principles we have adhered to for over a hundred years. Keeping tradition in mind - we are heading for modernity.
Photo: Chancellery of the Sejm/Łukasz Błasikiewicz
The Supreme Audit Office takes care of legal, economic and appropriate use of public funds, as well as their reliable settlement.
In the reporting period, the NIK auditing was mainly focused on issues which impacted:
- stability of public finance,
- efficient operation of the state,
- security of the state and quality of citizens’ lives.
In 2019, the Supreme Audit Office conducted the total of two thousand one hundred and sixty six (2166) individual audits in a thousand seven hundred and forty (1740) entities.
We presented the Sejm with a hundred and two (102) planned audit reports and ninety nine (99) audit reports on state budget execution in 2018.
We also conducted research in ninety three (93) subjects of ad hoc audits.
NIK, while fulfilling its statutory duties, has submitted the following documents to the Sejm:
- Analysis of the state budget performance and assumptions of the monetary policy
- Opinion on discharge for the Council of Ministers
- Report on NIK’s activity in 2018.
The Supreme Audit Office has considered the suggestions of audit subjects submitted by the bodies of the Polish Sejm.
As many as 17 Sejm committees made 98 suggestions of audit subjects to be included in NIK’s work plan for 2020.
The Sejm Committee for State Auditing recommended 53 audit subjects to address.
The total of 18 subjects were incorporated in the work plan. Others either had already been addressed before, or they were dealt with as part of ad hoc audits.
In 2019, the Polish Supreme Audit Office received 5175 complaints, requests and requests for audit which were grouped in 3463 categories.
Requests of the Members of the Sejm made up nearly 2 percent of the total requests and complaints sent to NIK.
NIK analysed all the complaints. The results of the complaints’ analysis are an inspiration for subjects of ad hoc audits which are a quick response to reported issues.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Supreme Audit Office carried out a range of audits related e.g. to the functioning of the tax system and financial authorities as well as the functioning of the budget economy institutions.
NIK audits covered among others: supervision of VAT collection, aggressive tax optimisation, use of the Unified Control File in tax proceedings and tax controls or the organisation of the National Revenue Administration (NRA).
As for the NRA audit, since I used to be the Minister of Finance and the Head of the National Revenue Administration, I decided not to supervise that audit, to make sure it remains unbiased. I transferred my rights related to the process of accepting the post-audit recommendations and approving the audit report to my deputies.
Besides, in 2019 we also audited the owner supervision over the State Treasury and severance payments for managers in strategic companies.
We also conducted an important audit which focused on the activity of public institutions, entities which organised the financial market in terms of GetBack SA, entities which offered it securities and audited that company.
One of NIK audits dealt with the evaluation of measures taken by the government administration in the area of power safety in Poland.
An important area of NIK auditing was transportation. We verified among others if the state was prepared to implement electronic tolling and ensure proper technical condition of national roads.
NIK dealt with the security of the state and its citizens. We audited for example: the progress in development works for the Ministry of National Defence, the operations of the Polish Armaments Group and its subsidiaries as well as the implementation of the Programme for modernisation of uniformed services.
NIK also revealed interest in measures related to meeting health needs or solving social issues. The areas covered by our audits included: availability of psychiatric treatment to children and youth, prevention of addictions, safety of patients in the context of antibiotic treatment.
In the fields such as work, family and social security the NIK audits were occupied with major social programmes, such as: free medications for senior citizens 75+, ”Family 500 plus" or provision of palliative and hospice care.
The Supreme Audit Office also focused on the environment protection. We examined the nature protection and forest management in the Białowieża Forest as well as the prevention of threats related to hazardous materials lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Education, culture and national heritage play the key role in the modern world. NIK audits took the following areas under the microscope: changes in the education systems and implementation of the Programme for the Nationwide Education Network as well as the protection of physical cultural heritage of national minorities.
NIK audits also dealt with the promotion of Polish culture abroad and promotion of the Polish tourism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In 2019, the Supreme Audit Office developed nearly 4 thousand post-audit recommendations.
We made 77 de lege ferenda proposals.
We filed 61 crime reports to law enforcement agencies.
We addressed 45 public finance breach reports to the Public Finance Commissioner.
A tangible effect of our work are the financial results of audits.
In 2019:
- financial consequences of irregularities confirmed by NIK exceeded PLN 12 billion.
- financial consequences of irregularities at the cost of the EU budget totalled over PLN 4.5 million.
- financial benefits recorded as a follow-up of NIK audits amounted to more than PLN 17.3 million.
On behalf of myself and NIK auditors, I would like to say that I am positive that our effort actually contributes to the improvement of the Polish state. Let me thank now all the NIK auditors and employees for their work.
Let me also thank all the Members of the Polish Sejm!
I would like to emphasise that the Report on the activity of the Supreme Audit Office was advised by 24 Sejm committees which positively evaluated the way NIK performed its tasks in 2019. In several cases special thanks were given to individual departments of NIK.
Standing here today I would like to thank all the Members of the Polish Sejm for objective evaluation of professionalism of all the NIK auditors and administrative employees.
We do appreciate all the good opinions of the Members of the Sejm about NIK.
Mr Speaker and Members of the Sejm,
At the same time, I would like to underline that while evaluating the said Report, you evaluate hard and responsible work of NIK employees who take all efforts to pursue the mission of NIK each and every day.
They are people devoted to that institution, public service and public auditing,
Thank you for your attention!
