15 Apr 2015, 16:37
Serious management and oversight weaknesses in a cross border project aimed at providing high speed broadband connectivity will be on the agenda of the PAC tomorrow morning.
15 April 2015
Senior officials from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB), a cross border body that manages EU structural funds programmes, will be in attendance.
A detailed review commissioned by the SEUPB concluded that 97 percent of the total €4.3 million spend was ineligible for grant aid due to poor management and oversight. The total loss to the Irish Exchequer from the Bytel fibre-optic project has been estimated at €2.27 million.
The Comptroller and Auditor General and the Northern Ireland Audit Office conducted a co-ordinated examination of the project and, last month, a Dáil PAC delegation met with counterparts in the Public Accounts Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
PAC Chairman John McGuinness says that the Committee will wish to assess how €4.3 million in grants could be paid out for a project which had such shortcomings that it was withdrawn from Interreg funding. “While the project was originally meant to be funded by the EU, taxpayers north and south of the border have ended up footing the final bill. We will examine the reasons for the apparent lack of clarity over the source and ownership of project infrastructure assets. We will also explore why the actual costs of delivering the project were significantly lower than those set out in the original proposal but yet the grants were paid on the basis of that proposal.”
Deputy McGuinness says that the role of the Department of Communications in the project and their relationship with Northern Ireland’s Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI) will be examined. “The Committee will wish to assess why there was no formal agreement between both departments involved. We will be asking why both departments’ respective roles and responsibilities were not more clearly defined and the nature of the dispute between them as to who had responsibility for the day to day handling and processing of payments. And fundamentally, we will be asking whether both departments appeared more concerned in spending money by specific deadlines in order to qualify for EU funding than with the substance of the project itself.
Last month’s engagement with counterparts in Stormont will also inform tomorrow’s discussions. “Our meeting on 4 March with the PAC of the Northern Ireland Assembly highlighted how best practice rules of procurement were clearly not being followed properly. For instance, €1.3 million was claimed for hardware that was not eligible under the terms of the Letter of Offer. The hardware was bought for €30,000 from a related entity and never even used in the project. We were also told that another payment of over €1 million was made even though supporting documentation was lacking,” says Deputy McGuinness.
Deptuty McGuinness says that the PAC will wish to examine why the claims by a whistleblower of irregularity were not adequately explored. “Allegations about the project were made by a director of the company in June 2006. DETI conducted an internal investigation and concluded that no further action was necessary so we will wish to ascertain how the Department of Communications concluded that the investigation by their Northern Ireland counterparts was adequate.”
The SEUPB, which had overall responsibility for implement the INTERREG III programme in Ireland, will also be questioned on their role and responsiblity to ensure appropriate oversight of the project.
The witness scheduled to attend tomorrow's meeting include:
Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
- Mr. Mark Griffin – Secretary General
- Mr. Martin Finucane – Principal Officer
- Mr. Tim O’Sullivan – Assistant Principal
Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB)
- Mr. Pat Colgan – Chief Executive Officer
- Ms. Gina Mc Intyre – Director of Corporate Services
The meeting takes place tomorrow Thursday 16 April in Committee Room 3, LH 2000 at 10 am.
Public proceedings can be viewed online here.
Ends
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
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paul.hand@oireachtas.ie
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Áine Collins, Fine Gael
Paul J. Connaughton, Fine Gael
Joe Costello, Labour Party
John Deasy, Fine Gael
Robert Dowds, Labour Party
Seán Fleming, Fianna Fáil
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin
John McGuinness, Fianna Fáil (Chairman)
Gabrielle McFadden, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour Party
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
John Perry, Fine Gael
Shane Ross, Independent