€27m for school sites and safety ‘unspent’ for years

MORE than €27 million given to Vocational Education Committees (VECs) for school sites and improving health and safety went unspent for up to three years, the Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell has found.

He has recommended capital grants should not be made to Vocational Education Committees by the Department of Education until the transactions are ready to be finalised.

He found €21.5m allocated by the department between autumn 2005 and late the next year for five VECs to buy sites for schools remained unspent by the end of 2006.