A Northern Ireland department overspent by £4.2 million after failing to follow proper accounting procedures, a committee of MPs has concluded.

In a report on excess spending in Ulster, the Commons public accounts committee criticised the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for errors in monitoring and forecasting its financial performance during 2002/03.

As a result, the department spent £4,157,656 more than it had been authorised to spend by parliament and the Northern Ireland assembly.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment also went £328,161 over its permitted budget.

In a report recommending the retrospective approval of the expenditure, the MPs made clear that they "expect departments to plan and control their consumption of resources and their cash requirements within the limits authorised through the Budget Act".

Public sector procedures were changed in 2001/02 when resource-based accounting was introduced, a move which requires departments to forecast and manage the resources they will consume in delivering services, including changes in the value of assets and liabilities for which they are responsible.

Previously, the accounting focus had been on cash spending.

The committee warned accounting officers that they "have a personal responsibility to observe the limits on expenditure" set out by the Northern Ireland assembly or by parliament, whether in resource or cash terms.

"The resource excesses in 2002/03 could have been largely avoided if the departments concerned had correctly operated the resource accounting and resource-based supply procedures," said the report.

"Errors in the preparation of estimates and the failure to monitor and forecast properly financial performance during the year resulted in departments not identifying overspending against budgets.

"As a consequence they did not recognise the need to take the steps to control expenditure and, where appropriate, seek additional supply."