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Irish Times
17 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Garda undercharging for policing sports events and concerts, says Comptroller, with €2.6m in fees owed
An Garda Síochána is significantly undercharging private companies for policing concerts and other major events, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General . Additionally, the force is still owed millions for providing policing services for large gatherings, despite a recent stepping up of debt collection. The result is that public funds are being used to subsidise private companies, a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) heard on Thursday. Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy raised significant concerns around the policing of private events. READ MORE He said it was Garda policy to charge private companies the full costs for policing commercial events. There is no charge for charity or community focused events, and a charge of 50 per cent of full costs for commercial events with a partial public-interest focus. The Garda charges a flat rate of €45 per hour for every member assigned to an event. However, that rate does not account for overtime, Sunday or bank holiday premiums, Mr McCarthy said. It also does not account for the cost of more senior gardaí assigned to an event, which may cost much more than the €45 rate. This means the flat rate 'represents an assumed, rather than actual, cost', Mr McCarthy said. [ Garda media approach shifts to calm online bigotry Opens in new window ] The Comptroller sampled 15 events policed by gardaí and found an 'inconsistent' approach to cost recovery. For several large events, Garda hours exceeded those originally estimated, 'leading to shortfalls in cost recovery'. Mr McCarthy added: 'This undermines the integrity of the charging regime and potentially subsidises commercial activity with public funds.' He found that the €7 million recovered by the Garda in 2023 for policing events was recorded on a stand-alone spreadsheet and not integrated into financial accounting records. There is also no audit trail for invoices, including cancelled invoices, he said, which exposed the Garda to 'an unnecessary level of financial risk'. The committee also heard the Garda is owed €2.6 million in unpaid fees for events policing. Aonghus O'Connor, the Garda's executive director of finance, said debt collection had ramped up recently, and this figure was down from €3.6 million last year. However, Mr O'Connor said there is no way of sanctioning or punishing companies which refuse to pay the charges. Some companies pay immediately, some drag their feet, and some do not pay at all, he said. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told the committee he had accepted the recommendations of the Comptroller to improve fee collections. The hourly rates charged by the force 'are not reflective of overall cost', he said. [ Garda numbers crisis: 'We could lose 30% to 50% of our organisation in five years' Opens in new window ] However, he added that regardless of fees, the Garda has an obligation to police large events such as concerts to ensure public safety. Mr Harris also faced questioning over the purchase of a large amount of ammunition by the Garda from an Italian company. After the rounds were found to be defective through testing, they were destroyed and a certificate of destruction was later issued by a sergeant. Labour TD Eoghan Kenny asked why responsibility and cost for destruction fell to the Garda rather than the Italian company. 'Did the Commissioner approve the issuance of the declaration, or was the sergeant simply permitted to write off €160,000 of public funds?' he asked. Mr Harris said the issue did not pass his desk. 'That simply beggars belief,' the TD responded. The Commissioner said he would come back to the committee with further information.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Munster Technological University cyberattack response cost €3.5m, PAC told
The cost of a cyberattack on a university , a 'high-risk' data breach at an education and training board, and instances of noncompliance with the spending rules have been highlighted by the State's spending watchdog. Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) Seamus McCarthy on Thursday updated the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on more than 100 financial statements of State bodies, including several from the education and health sectors, most of which related to 2023. The committee was told that the response to a 2023 cyberattack on Munster Technological University 'resulted in direct costs of €3.5 million". Mr McCarthy also drew TDs' attention to 'a high-risk data breach' at the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board in March 2023. He said he understood the breach was reported to the Data Protection Commissioner. READ MORE Separately, he flagged the impact of a delay in the purchase of a property for €6.5 million by Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, 'where the funds are being held in a non-interest-bearing account since September 2023'. He said he understood 'those funds are still in a non-interest-bearing account' and 'the transaction hasn't been completed'. [ How can money and time be saved in the cost of tendering for public contracts? Opens in new window ] Responding to a question from Fine Gael TD Joe Neville on the matter, Mr McCarthy said he would not estimate how much could have been lost in terms of interest on the €6.5 million, but that 'the potential loss of value to the State is significant'. The CA&G routinely highlights instances of non-compliant procurement where the sums exceed €500,000 at a body under his remit. Non-compliant procurement can involve purchases that do not go through competitive tender processes, in some cases due to exceptional circumstances or time constraints. Mr McCarthy said there was €4.4 million in non-compliant procurement by University College Dublin (UCD) in 12 months over 2022 and 2023. He told the committee that UCD set out how this expenditure related to 33 suppliers, adding: 'I suspect it's [the €4.4 million] made up of a considerable list of relatively smaller amounts.' Later, Mr McCarthy told the committee that while St James's Hospital reported that 86 per cent of its €256 million in procurement was compliant, this 'would imply that an estimated €35.4 million" was non-complaint. He also highlighted how procurement noncompliance at Beaumont Hospital was an estimated €18.5 million. The C&AG said that non-compliant procurement has been a focus of interest of the PAC in the past and 'I think good progress has been made in bringing down both the number and value of non-compliant procurement'.
