• 30.09.2025 at 06.45
• Compliance audit

Eligibility for government grants

Granting of eligibility for government grants has in essential respects complied with the regulations and the principles of good governance. However, the Ministry of Education and Culture should pay attention to compliance with the eligibility criteria after the time of granting.

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Transfers refer to expenditure for which the state receives no direct consideration in return. In order to manage central government expenditure classified as transfers, various procedures have been created to restrict or regulate the eligibility for government grants.

The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, acting as government grant authorities, have complied with the regulations and the principles of good governance in essential respects when approving an entity, foundation or municipality as eligible for a government grant or as entitled for a central government transfer or cost reimbursements. However, the Ministry of Education and Culture should ensure more actively and regularly that the eligibility criteria for government grants are met and, if necessary, revoke the eligibility.

According to the audit, eligibility for government grants in the sports and physical activity sector is, in practice, permanent. The Ministry of Education and Culture has not revoked the eligibility for government grants from sports organisations in ten years, even though the number of member associations and participants of some organisations have not met the eligibility criteria for government grants for two consecutive years. The Ministry of Education and Culture has justified the eligibility for government grants of some smaller sports organisations by the fact that the sports represented by them are included in the Olympic programme. The Ministry of Education and Culture should carry out more audits targeted at the funding recipients.

In the 2024 budget, the financial significance of eligibility for government grants amounted to nearly EUR 2 billion. The audit examined the legal basis of the eligibility for government grants and the authorities’ actions based on it. The audit focused on a phase in the government grant process that has not previously been audited by the NAOF in a compliance audit.

The eligibility for government grants was addressed with regard to statutory central government transfers, discretionary government grants and various types of reimbursements. The grant and payment processes were excluded from the scope of the audit.