Public Accounts Committee to probe allegations around procurement of Garda IT contracts

The Dail's Public Accounts Committee is to examine revelations about Garda procurement practices for major IT contracts.

It follows an internal Garda audit which has raised concern over the force's handling of at least one multi-million euro account.

The report, which has been obtained by RTÉ's This Week programme, questions whether best practice has properly being followed.

The Vice Chair of the PAC - Labour's Alan Kelly - said that he raised the issue last June with the Department of Justice.

"The volumes of money we're talking about here are quite huge - in the multi-million euro category - and really this is an issue that's going to have to come back before the Public Accounts Committee," he said.

"The questions I've put forward previously were not adequately answered. When they were brought forward at the PAC they were answered appropriately either, because we now see from this internal audit report from An Garda Síochána. The tendering process, the procurement process and recording of hours leaves an awful lot to be desired."