Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did a quick calculation and well in excess of €670,000 worth of items never went to tender. During the period, €276,000 was given to Bracken Public Relations Limited for publicity. A total of €250,000 was given for marketing on demand professional fees. A total of €14,000 was given to Professor John Davies. Interestingly and most peculiarly, I note the former president stated much of the travel expenses had to do with taking taxis to meetings in discreet locations. One taxi company run by Martin and Eleanor Power received €126,000 during the period and no invoice details were provided, according to the Deloitte & Touche report.

A total of €134,000 was spent on fine arts, with €48,000 going to Pauline Bewick and €62,000 spent on the papers of Thomas Wise. Almost €20,000 was spent on flowers and bouquets. On what exactly was this money spent? Bell Airways received €4,200 to charter a plane from Waterford to Dublin in 2007. How did these contribute to education? Dr. Neavyn tells me the chief financial officer raised concerns about this as far back as 2001 but it was left to run unabated over a seven year period. This was taxpayers' money. Over the period the Arlington Lodge received €73,000. Once again the former president mentioned a discreet environment. I would have thought his office was a discreet environment.

I note Dr. Neavyn has not taken up appointments on many subsidiary companies. The Deloitte & Touche report did not deal with control as it only examined expenditure. How is the expenditure of this €3.6 million related to the furtherance of education and proper use of taxpayers' money? This committee examines the best value for the taxpayer. The report is confined to a seven year period so we do not have figures for 2001 to 2003. It beggars belief that this type of money was thrown around. One of the public relations companies has been reappointed after a tender process. Which company is it? When was it appointed? Was it prior to the resignation of the former president?

Let us deal in pounds, shillings and pence rather than having an abstract discussion. Will Dr. Neavyn explain how the institute of technology could justify allowing these payments to run unabated? I find it extraordinary that the chief financial officer at the time, Mr. McFeely, is in the role today. I would also like to hear his thoughts on this. How did he bring it the attention of the president at the time? To whom else did he speak? How was it allowed to continue? It is clear Mr. McFeely had major concerns. Did he speak to any individuals on the board or to the chairman of the board? Let us get to the bottom of this. How much have the reports cost? We have the Deloitte & Touche report and the Grant Thornton report. How much taxpayers' money has been expended on these two reports?