The inspector appointed to investigate the operation of its financial scheme by County Westmeath vocational education committee presented his report in September. Before reaching any conclusions on the inspector's findings it was decided to apprise the vocational education committee and the acting chief executive officer of the shortcomings uncovered and seek their views. In this regard, a copy of the report was made available to the chairman of the vocational education committee and the acting chief executive officer on a strictly confidential basis. The initial response from the acting chief executive officer required further clarification and this has been sought.
In the interest of fairness to all involved in County Westmeath vocational education committee, I do not consider it appropriate to comment on the report's findings until I have made a final decision on the course of action I intend to pursue and the report has been published. I expect to be in a position to make an announcement on the matter shortly.
Information relating to travel and maintenance expenses collected by my Department in the course of the investigations into the financial management of the vocational education committee was provided to the Local Government Auditor in the context of the audit of the 1993 accounts of the vocational education committee. The report of the auditor has now been received and is being considered.
