VEC spent €50k to find lost €100k

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.

More than half the amount was paid to a special investigator whose report could never be published.

The independent investigator charged CCVEC €26,200 to probe claims made about the running of the Youthreach centre in Macroom.

However, the work had to be abandoned due to legal concerns which arose when the centre’s co-ordinator took early retirement.

CCVEC then spent €20,500 on solicitors fees arising out of an employment dispute linked to the same investigation.

Last year, the Public Accounts Committee was made aware of the abandoned investigation at Macroom, but the costs of this inquiry were not known.

The PAC was told that, while the investigator’s report could not be published, CCVEC retained all the documents gathered.

CCVEC’s audit committee was made aware of the costs of its response to issues raised in Macroom and the fact the work involved had not been tendered for under procurement rules.

A separate report by the internal audit unit found a number of problems at the centre.

In this report, previously disclosed by the Irish Examiner, the internal auditor said he had requested, but had not been given, information on the costs of the investigator and the solicitors who worked on the Macroom case.

Since the publication of this audit report, and in response to questions asked by the Department of Education, CCVEC had conceded that up to €115,000 was lost due to the payment of allowances to ineligible students.

It has yet to arrive at a figure for the money lost because of the payment of tutors for teaching hours that were not recorded.

CCVEC has also been in negotiations with the Revenue Commissioners. This was after it proposed a settlement to reconcile a failure to pay PAYE and PRSI on some wages linked to Macroom.

In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee, published last week, the secretary general of the Department of Education said it was still awaiting a response from CCVEC as to how it proposed to recoup the money involved.

Because CCVEC did not respond to an initial request for information, the department said it has pressed again.

In the same letter, secretary general Sean Ó Foghlú said it was also waiting for further clarification from CCVEC in relation to unauthorised loans and leases it agreed to occupy a Youthreach and childcare property at Ballyellis, Mallow.

Mr Ó Foghlú also said, as a direct result of losses CCVEC sustained due to a collapsed computer contract at Glanmire Community College, it has introduced good practice guidelines for all spending by VECs.