€4.5m UCC spend ‘non-compliant’

University College Cork paid nearly €4.5m to 39 suppliers for goods and services in one year without going through proper procurement, new accounts have revealed.

More than €3.9m relating to 34 suppliers was declared by the university itself, according to its financial statements for the year up to September 30, 2016. However, a further €532,000 worth of goods and services supplied by five suppliers was found to be non-compliant with public procurement guidelines in an audit by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG).

The audit examined procurement in relation to 17 suppliers, including the five in receipt of the highest payments from UCC, worth over €14m. Another 12 suppliers with payments totalling €3.3m were chosen at random for the C&AG audit.