FOLLOWING two years of denials, the remnants of County Cork VEC has finally had to accept its house was not in order. While managing its €100m annual budget, it failed to keep proper accounts and, because of these shortcomings, it underpaid it taxes.

The last ever meeting of County Cork VEC will take place today under the shadow of a dispute regarding an allegation that it covered up controversies.

Another unorthodox land deal involving County Cork VEC has emerged and is being scrutinised by the Department of Education.

Funding has been sought to address failures at a €1m creche in Mallow which has already landed County Cork VEC into difficulty.

Mallow Credit Union has refused to clarify how a property asset was recorded in its accounts at being worth 63 times its actual value to the institution.

Child welfare is being compromised at a creche County Cork VEC broke procurement rules to build.

A €1m VEC creche that was supposed to facilitate a five-fold increase in affordable places is losing money and catering for the same number of preschool children than when it was based in a smaller unit next door.

The State’s spending watchdog has said a special scrutiny report on the operation of County Cork VEC appears inevitable given the volume of complaints arising from the organisation.

County Cork VEC has been subjected to a far deeper probe of its tax affairs than previously thought.

Internal documents have revealed the pressure County Cork VEC is under to stem losses at two controversial projects.

County Cork VEC spent almost €50,000 responding to reports that it had lost more than €100,000 due to mismanagement at a Youthreach centre.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said he has no power to act on County Cork VEC’s request to remove a whistleblowing councillor from its board.

A VEC has asked Education Minister Ruairí Quinn to remove a committee member who helped to expose a number of financial problems within the group.

County Cork VEC has accepted there were problems with unauthorised leases at Mallow Youthreach but at the last minute voted to deliver a report on the matter behind closed doors.

Fresh details have emerged of the costs of unapproved lending County Cork VEC arranged to fund a budget shortfall at a childcare centre.

The head of the Department of Education does not know if Co Cork Vocational Education Committee intentionally misled it over leases it entered into without the department’s prior permission.

A former chairman of County Cork VEC has defended his role in unsanctioned lease and loan arrangements at a youth facility in Mallow.

County Cork VEC secured more than €430,000 in unauthorised borrowings from Mallow Credit Union and signed up to a long lease with no permission.

County Cork VEC has said it is prepared to make a settlement with the Revenue Commissioners for the second time in six years.

The education minister has signed off on the demotion of the principal of a Cork college following a disciplinary process.

County Cork VEC spent more on legal bills in 2010 than in the previous 10 years combined.

A VEC used taxpayers’ money to engage a barrister to see if it had been defamed by a newspaper investigation into its finances — despite a departmental warning not to spend money on such legal opinion.

County Cork VEC has voted to hire outside legal advisers to tell if any of its members or staff were defamed by news reports on waste and mismanagement in operations under its control.

The Cork County Vocational Education Committee (CCVEC) is acting as if it is unanswerable to the people who are funding it to the tune of almost €100m annually.

CCVEC will no longer be able to avoid giving answers, writes investigative correspondent Conor Ryan

The man whose company was blamed for defaulting on a contract that left County Cork VEC with a €161,000 shortfall has said school authorities were responsible for the demise of the deal.

Innovative software products which County Cork VEC invested €216,000 in, but signed away all rights to, were part of a package which subsequently attracted €400,000 in private sector capital.

Public money was being spent for four years on a sail training programme while its flagship vessel was out of the water and deteriorating on blocks.

Persistent risks existed within schools and centres that were under the CCVEC’s remit because too much cash was being kept on site and money was not being promptly lodged or properly accounted for.

The internal auditor of CCVEC has raised concerns that the authority is not getting value for money or picking the cheapest provider.

The flagship boat for a €150,000-a-year Youthreach project has been locked in a boatyard since 2007, writes Investigative Correspondent Conor Ryan

Spending restrictions were placed on an outdoor education centre after it was punished for allowing “bad practices” to feed a serious deficit problem.

The two dozen committee members at County Cork VEC clocked up a larger expenses bill in 2008 than its teachers.

ALL Vocational Education Committees (VECs) are to be reminded that teachers and other staff involved in purchasing must declare any business interests after irregularities were discovered at a Cork college.

A CORK college paid up to €140,000 to two companies owned by two of its IT staff for services and equipment without always seeking competitive quotes.

The PAC should press Cork City VEC on the conflict of interest regarding IT procurement at one of its colleges, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray

MEMBERS of the Cork County Vocational Education Committee (CCVEC) are seeking an urgent meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny to highlight their objection to a proposed amalgamation with the City of Cork VEC.

THE State spending watchdog has found Cork County VEC’s oversight of a costly and failed computer teaching programme at a Cork school was defective.