Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 October 2006
2 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he is satisfied that the proper rules and procedures have been followed in all appointments made and contracts granted by Údarás na Gaeltachta since he came to office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31387/06]
View answerÚdarás na Gaeltachta is a non-commercial State body which comes under the aegis of my Department and is governed by the legislative provisions of the Údarás na Gaeltachta Acts 1979 to 1999, in addition to national and European regulations and guidelines, including the code of practice for the governance of State bodies. Accordingly, while my Department holds responsibility for the body in regard to corporate governance matters, it has no function in the micro-management of its day-to-day administration.
As the Deputy is aware, Exchequer funding is provided to Údarás na Gaeltachta annually through my Department's Vote and, as part of the formal notification process, my Department sets out appropriate guidelines and conditions in regard to the various programmes of expenditure with a view to ensuring good practice for both the body and the various stakeholders. The expenditure programmes and processes are, of course, subject to formal scrutiny and audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General on an annual basis.
In fulfilment of its statutory obligations, Údarás na Gaeltachta publishes its report and accounts annually and these are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. In addition, arising from the code of practice for the governance of State bodies, the chairman provides a report each year to me in my role as Minister in regard to the performance and compliance of the body in the particular year. As part of this report, the chairman is required to confirm that all appropriate procedures for financial reporting, internal audit, procurement and disposal of assets are being carried out by the body and that the codes of business conduct for directors and employees, the guidelines for the appraisal and management of capital expenditure proposals and the code of practice generally have been adhered to. An internal audit function is also in place in the body.
Moreover, as a result of particular issues which came to light during my tenure as Minister — I cite for instance, the sale of holiday homes in Eanach Mheáin and payment of a grant to a company outside the Gaeltacht boundary, both of which have already been debated extensively in this House — I can say that procurement practices and processes have been improved to ensure good practice. For example, following scrutiny of the procedures adopted in the case of disposal of assets in Eanach Mheáin, my Department acted to highlight the need for board decisions and the underlying processes to be fair and transparent both in legal and administrative terms. I can also confirm that, in accordance with its governance role, my officials hold meetings with Údarás executives on a regular basis to monitor and review progress and to discuss relevant issues.
Having regard to the foregoing I am satisfied as to the general arrangements in place for the award of contracts.
When one cuts through the waffle, I take it from the Minister's answer that he is not aware of any irregularities in appointments or awarding contracts. I understand the Minister was present at the announcement of the task force for the Donegal Gaeltacht on 16 December 2002. Is he aware that the post of ard-bainisteoir, the person appointed by the Údarás to the task force, was appointed without the post being advertised or a competition taking place? Is he aware of concerns of the AMICUS trade union regarding this appointment? Regarding the appointment of a permanent ard-bainisteoir to Údarás na Gaeltachta on 8 December 2005, is he aware of a relationship between the successful applicant and any of the interviewers?
No.
Will the Minister have these matters investigated?
I certainly will if the Deputy says there are issues to be addressed. I have no recollection of receiving any communication on whatever happened at the meeting in Donegal, which of course I did not attend. I did not attend any Údarás na Gaeltachta board meeting in Donegal.
I did not mention a board meeting, I spoke about the launch.
I cannot remember any appointment or decision having been made at the launch.
I did not say there was. However, I understand an appointment was announced.
There could have been, I cannot recollect here. All of us attend functions at which announcements are made, but just because an announcement is made at an occasion, I do not need to go back the next day and check that the body did the job right. It is a matter for Údarás to follow its procedures. If the Deputy has specific allegations he should give me details and I will check them out. If anybody comes to me with an allegation, I will have it checked. It would not be the first time an allegation was made. In one case when an allegation was made the Údarás spent considerable sums of money checking it out thoroughly.
I have given the Minister specific details and I ask that these issues be checked and that he comes back to me on the issues raised. I have given dates and considerable detail.
Is the Deputy saying that somebody on the interview board was related to the successful applicant?
The Minister heard what I said.
So that we are all clear on what the Deputy said, was that what he said?
I am asking whether the Minister is aware of any relationship between a successful applicant and an interviewer. I ask him to confirm it one way or another.
I am not aware. The Deputy seems to be saying he is aware of something of which I am not aware. I have already answered that I am not aware. If the Deputy is asking me to investigate whether there is any truth in something he was told, I will investigate it. I ask the Deputy to clarify what the position was. Although I may be somewhat vague, my memory was that a person was appointed to work on the task force in Donegal. Is that what we are discussing? It was an internal appointment.
There are two issues. I understand a temporary ard-bainisteoir was appointed for the Donegal task force.
From within the Údarás.
Yes, that is the first one I mentioned. The second one was a permanent appointment of an ard-bainisteoir on 8 December 2005. There are two separate issues. If the Minister reads the record he can see what I said.
We will look at the record and try to find out what the basis is.
