Report finds public funds not misused at Marino
However, the report, commissioned by Education Minister Mary Hanafin, did identify a number of shortcomings in financial reporting procedures at the college run by the Christian Brothers.
It recommends the transparency and quality of financial information at MIE could be improved in a number of ways, especially through the publication of separate accounts for Coláiste Mhuire, the college’s teacher training division.
The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers was ordered after allegations about the misuse of public funds at the privately owned college arose last May.
The controversy erupted after the president of Coláiste Mhuire, Caoimhe Máirtín, resigned her position the previous month amid claims of bullying and intimidation at the college.
Ms Máirtín complained she was “humiliated, punished, isolated and excluded” by the college’s trustees and governing body.
A High Court action she took against MIE was settled out of court in April.
A Christian Brother who provided teacher training at Coláiste Mhuire, Br Rory Geoghegan, also supported Ms Máirtín’s allegations that staff were being mistreated and abused. He was subsequently moved to Africa by his religious superiors.
However, other MIE sources claimed Ms Máirtín ran into conflict with the college’s management after she questioned the annual allocation paid to MIE by the State which totalled €4.2 million last year.
Welcoming the report’s findings yesterday, Ms Hanafin said she was pleased public funds had not been misused. The minister said she had commissioned the report to show that the funding provided by her department had been properly applied due to the level of public and media interest in the matter.
Meanwhile, the Christian Brothers, on behalf of the trustees, expressed dismay at “the recent rushes to judgment” in line of the report’s findings.
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