Arts Council ‘greatly regrets' €6.7m failed IT project spend & Maureen Kennelly to step down as director after hearings
Representatives from the Arts Council today appeared before the Public Accounts Committee following a
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Arts Council chair Maura McGrath told how members of the body were appearing before the PAC 'to be accountable for our actions'
Credit: Stedman
The Arts Council has come under fire after it emerged it splashed €6.7million on a new grants management system, which was subsequently abandoned following multiple delays and complications.
The project was to see five separate IT portals dating from 2008 amalgamated into one centralised grants management system but it was botched and never delivered.
An initial investigation by the Department of Arts, published last February, found the council had not been prepared for the scale of the project and it had not put in place resources to deliver it.
Amid the fallout, the State agency was blasted by Arts Minister Patrick O'Donovan, who expressed his 'deep concern'.
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Officials from the council appeared before the Public Accounts Committee today.
Arts Council chair Maura McGrath today told how members of the body were appearing before the PAC 'to provide full transparent information, to be accountable for our actions'.
But Ms McGrath also took a swipe at the
She insisted the controversial project 'was not and is not an optional extra'.
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Ms McGrath said: 'It began out of necessity, and it is a necessity that remains to be addressed.'
And the Arts Council chair questioned the role of Government in the debacle.
'CARRY THE LOAD'
McGrath rapped: 'The expectation that small State bodies set up for specialist purposes should be expected to carry the load on complex IT projects should be questioned.'
The 2023 accounts for the agency note an overall loss of value of €5.3million up to June 2024.
Arts Council director Maureen Kennelly - who will step down next month - revealed that it is now pursuing legal cases against two of the IT contractors involved in the failed project.
Ms Kennelly told how the council has commenced legal proceedings against two contractors, with the council in the pre-action stage in relation to two others.
'REDUCE THE LOSS'
She said: 'We are vigorously pursuing our cases to reduce the loss to the
Ms Kennelly told TDs at the PAC that the IT systems date from 2008.
Highlighting contributing factors to the project failure, she blamed 'a lack of internal expertise, poor performance by our contractors and also the impact of
She said: 'In summary, lack of internal expertise, poor performance by our contractors and also, the impact of Covid-19 all contributed to the project failure.'
Ms Kennelly also stressed that they have senior ICT expertise in-house now.
'VERY DISAPPOINTED'
And she pledged the council would implement all recommendations from the Examination Report published by the Department of Arts.
Speaking about her upcoming departure, Ms Kennelly said she is 'very disappointed' she has not been granted another term as director.
But she said Arts Minister O'Donovan 'did not consent to a second term'.
Ms Kennelly said: 'I'm very disappointed that a second term wasn't sanctioned for me, because I had very great plans for the organisation. The board fully supported me.
DEPARTMENT 'FAILED'
'There were a number of reforms that I brought in, and there were a number of other reforms that I really wanted to see through. So it's a source of great disappointment that I won't be able to see those through.'
Feargal O Coigligh, Secretary General of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Arts, admitted that his department had 'failed' to properly exercise its oversight function.
Addressing the PAC, he confessed they 'should have intervened more actively and much sooner' to reduce the exposure of the taxpayer to this failed project.
Mr O Coigligh highlighted how the minister has established an Expert Advisory Committee, led by Professor Niamh Brennan, to review the Governance and Organisational Culture in the Arts Council.
A parallel review of the department's internal governance operations is also under way.
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Arts Minister Patrick O'Donovan expressed his 'deep concern' over the failed IT project
Credit: Getty
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