VEC staff must state business interests

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.

The instruction from the Department of Education follows an investigation at City of Cork VEC (CCVEC) that revealed Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa bought IT goods and services worth more than €140,000 from firms owned by two of its own IT staff without always properly obtaining quotes from competitors.

Both staff at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa (CSN) — head of IT Richard O’Sullivan and an IT technician who retired in June 2008 — were directly involved in the procurement of IT equipment. They had not declared the conflicts of interest as required under a 2005 code of ethics for VEC staff in relation to the two companies, one of which was owned by the IT technician on his own and the other jointly owned from 2006.

The auditors who uncovered the problem told the department most other VECs whose procurement processes it audited in 2009 were not requiring teachers to make statements of interest.

As well as code of ethics requirements, all VEC officers above a certain pay grade are legally obliged since 2006 to declare any interests if they are involved in procurement. CCVEC had interpreted this to refer only to staff who signed off on purchases but since last year it has issued statements of interest to all staff above the relevant salary level who could possibly be involved in procurement.

The department told the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), John Buckley, as part of his report on the issue it expects VECs will be fully compliant when procurement is audited again next year.

“In the meantime, the department will remind VECs that teachers must make declarations of interest where they come within the requirements of ethics regulations,” the C&AG report states.

The department told Mr Buckley at the end of May it would request that VECs draw the attention of staff to the VEC Code of Ethics which includes a requirement that staff disclose outside business interests which may be in conflict with VEC business. But, in response to Irish Examiner questions, the department said it has not yet written to the VECs to this effect.

“The department is considering the C&AG’s report, which makes a number of recommendations, and expects to issue instructions to the VECs in the near future,” a spokesperson said.