However, it says money was spent on the proposed disposal of sales assets, corporate finance and governance advice was obtained in respect of the governance, financial and commercial aspects of certain State bodies and assets.
NewEra also sought advice relating to activities to facilitate investment in economic infrastructure, and on amending NTMA legislation and examining the feasibility of establishing NewERA as a holding company for certain commercial State bodies.
The C&AG notes that the Financial Institutions Guarantee Scheme (the bank guarantee) covered a total of €75bn when it was closed on 28 March.
After that date, no new liabilities can be incurred under the scheme.
The C&AG says that after the liquidation of IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, last February, claims under the scheme guaranteed liabilities (bonds and deposits) may be made.
It said the total claim payments to 10 July 2013 were €939.4m.
That was made up of €933.8m for bonds and €5.6m for deposits.
It also says that €37.4m had been paid in relation to certain derivative contracts entered into by IBRC following its liquidation.
The final amount appropriated for public services in 2012 was €49.8bn.
This comprised supply grants of €45.6bn, capital funding carried over from 2011 totalling €114m and appropriations-in-aid of €4.1bn.
The total amount spent by departments and offices in 2012 was €49bn.
After deduction of realised appropriations-in-aid totalling €4.1bn, the net expenditure in the year was €44.9bn.
All departments and offices managed within their voted allocations in 2012.
The 2012 surpluses amounted to €748m. Of that amount, a total of €107m was approved for carry over to 2013.
The balance of €641m was due for surrender (ie surrender to the exchequer).
Foreign Affairs should have known Uganda concerns
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should have been aware of concerns about funding provided to the Ugandan government, before a €4m fraud of Irish Aid was discovered last year, according to the C&AG.
The report says that while this may not have prevented the fraud, it may have helped detection of the fraud at an earlier stage.
The report says that last October the Auditor General in Uganda reported on the misappropriation of €11.6m of donor funding.
It had been intended for the Peace, Recovery and Development plan. A total of €4m had been contributed by Irish Aid. The rest came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
The money had been transferred to an account controlled by the Ugandan office of the Prime Minister. It was subsequently withdrawn by various fraudulent means.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade announced the suspension of all Irish Aid funding channelled through the government of Uganda. In December 2012, €4m was recovered from the Ugandan government.
The C&AG's report finds that while measures were taken to ensure that monies were properly distributed there were a number of areas of concern.
It found there was no documentation supporting the receipt of the €4m payment and no confirmation of its subsequent transfer into the proper account.
Financial management reports were not received. There was no detailed action plan allocating responsibility between donors about how they monitor joint aid.
It also notes that there was change in two key senior management posts and that cover in respect of the internal auditor's maternity leave was on a part-time basis.
Ireland's 2012 foreign development aid contribution was the seventh highest in the OECD at 0.47% of GNP (Gross National Product).
The total Exchequer extra receipts (sums collected by govt departments directed to be credited to the Exchequer, eg court fine receipts) recorded by Government departments and offices in 2012 was €96m.
In 2012, total issues under grant-in-aid subheads amounted to €2.3bn.
In all cases the amount paid by way of grant-in-aid was equal to or less than the amount of the subhead provision approved by the Dáil.
Government deficit fell substantially
He notes that the Government deficit, the gap between income and spending - fell substantially between 2011 and 2012, mostly because of reduced spending on bank stabilisation.
However the General Government debt continued to rise - increasing by 14% in 2012, to close the year at €192bn.
IN addition the state had substantial contingent liabilities, notably €4.2 billion in respect of public private partnerships, and €1.1bn for claims against the State being managed by the state claims agency (a division of the NTMA which centrally processes legal cases against the state and its agencies).
There is also an unquantified liability in respect of public sector pension commitments.
The exchequer increased its cash and financial asset balances by just over €6bn in 2012, and the National Pension Reserve Fund increased in value by €1.3bn.
Liabilities guaranteed under the bank guarantee scheme fell by €29bn to end 2012 at €73bn.
The Eligible Liabilities Guarantee scheme (as the bank guarantee is formally known) was closed to new funding in March 2013, and the value of liabilities covered by the state will decline to zero over the next few years.
However this will result in a fall in the amount of income the state receives from the operation of the ELG scheme.
A contingent liability of €16bn - for Exceptional Liquidity Assistance (ELA) funidng fromthe Central Bank to IBRC was eliminated with the liquidation of IBRC in March of this year.
However, as part of the liquidation NAMA acquired a floating charge over €12.9 bn in assets of IBRC, and the state retains a contingent liability for any shortfall in thai sum when assets are sold off by the special liqidator of IBRC.
