Cork Institute of Technology asked to explain €13k banquet

The Dáil public accounts committee has demanded that Cork Institute of Technology explain why it spent €13,000 on a “banquet” for its retiring president which involved a “red carpet, marquee, and ice-sculpture of a dolphin” as students are struggling for help.

Committee chairman and Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming said he will write to the college seeking answers after the lavish and “extravagant” spending was revealed in the Irish Examiner’s sister newspaper, the Evening Echo.

Official records released under the Freedom of Information Act last month show that CIT spent €13,000 on events held over the summer to mark the retirement of its president, Dr Brendan Murphy.