Minister: It's unlikely Arts Council will recoup €7m it spent on defunct IT

Patrick O’Donovan said of the Arts Council's current IT system: 'It might not be great, it might be cumbersome and clunky, but it is working'

Arts minister Patrick O’Donovan said he should not be required to micromanage agencies under his department’s remit. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

It is critical that confidence is restored in the Arts Council after €7m spent on an unfit-for-purpose IT system — but it is unlikely that the sum will be recouped, arts minister Patrick O’Donovan has said.

Mr O’Donovan described the incident as a “big systems failure”.