VEC members insist on meeting over failed deal

AN under-pressure County Cork VEC has called a special meeting to discuss the fallout from its loss of a substantial sum of money on a collapsed school computer deal.

Committee chairman Councillor Noel O’Connor, said the majority of members wanted to hear the VEC account for the recently publicised loss.

And, after discussions with chief executive Barra O Briain, he arranged for the unorthodox gathering.

“There was the expressed wish of the majority of the members of the VEC to hold this meeting. I am guided by the members in their wish,” he said.

The meeting will be held on Friday, May 7, and specifically address a VEC deal with a private company Mobile Voyager Solutions which went wrong.

Both the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and secretary-general of the Department of Education, Brigid McManus, have expressed serious concern about the matter.

It was arranged in 2005 and involved the VEC sourcing €216,000 of funding for a pilot project to trial animated teaching aids at Glanmire Community College.

This was part of lease arrangement involving computer hardware and software. It is not clear why the VEC secured the funding on behalf of the company.

As part of the deal, Norwegian-based Mobile Voyager Solutions was supposed to pay off the €216,000 in quarterly instalments. However, it went bust having only paid the VEC €54,000. And, despite legal advice, the VEC was forced to pay the remaining €164,000.

The department said it was not aware of the nature of the deal or the loss of money until an anonymous tip-off to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last October.

VEC members said they did not know that both the department and the Comptroller and Auditor General were probing the deal until it was reported in the Irish Examiner last week.

Mr O Briain has already written to members to tell them the VEC’s audit committee will produce a full report on the arrangement.

This was supposed to be presented at the general meeting of the VEC later in May.

However this item was brought forward to May 7 because of the concerns of members and reservations about the lack of information available.