Cork City council urged to be more transparent after audits leak

Cork City Council has been called on to be more transparent in its conduct and publish all of its correspondence with the local government auditor.

This week it emerged the Local Government Audit Service had criticised the council for its failure to properly address structural problems and deal with internal weaknesses.

In a letter last November, the audit service also exposed the impact of legacy debts and emerging issues on the council’s €160m annual budget.

In response, Tim Lucey, the city manager, defended the progress made within the council and said he was concerned that the auditor’s letter to him had been leaked to the Irish Examiner.

However, Chris O’Leary, the leader of the Sinn Féin group on the council, said councillors had not been afforded the opportunity to debate the contents of the letter or hear about the problems highlighted.

On Sunday, Mr O’Leary wrote to the manager seeking full disclosure on the information available to the auditor during his examination of the City Council.

“We should have been given a proper opportunity through a special meeting of council to be briefed on the audit management letter, allowing council to examine in detail the local government auditor’s report on the issues and weaknesses on the system,” he said.

Fianna Fáil’s Tim Brosnan said there was an unacceptable culture of secrecy within City Hall and it should be more concerned with the contents of the letter than the fact it was leaked. “I don’t think there should be any secret correspondence in relation to the operation of a public organisation.”

Mr Brosnan said: “This is a public-interest matter and that information should be circulated to all members of the council because it comes down to the fact this is public money.”

Mr Brosnan said whoever leaked the letter should be praised for bringing the issues to the attention of the public.

The city council said it would be making no further statement on the issue.

Yesterday, the Department of the Environment refused access to the working documents available to the auditor when he prepared his letter to the manager.

The department said it was not subject to the Freedom of Information process because the documents which the local government auditor had on Cork City Council were his personal property and did not belong to his employers.

It also said the release of the documents on Cork City Council would compromise the effectiveness of audits.