John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before we go to our first speaker, Deputy Donohoe, I have a few comments to make. Your opening statement almost ignores the detail of what happened in Waterford Institute of Technology and I am somewhat taken aback by that. Did you take the time to review any of the detail of our meeting of last week? Are you not absolutely shocked by the type of expenditure by the president's office, as explained to us last week and as detailed in the various reports which were presented to the committee?

In your opening statement, Mr. Boland, you said "It is very disappointing when failures of this kind are identified".

You further stated that the full suite of control and accountability measures work to identify and remedy failures. However, it took ten years for them to work. This went on for ten years. What was taking place in the Higher Education Authority such that you did not find them? What was taking place in the HEA such that it's oversight of Waterford Institute of Technology did not work? Did the HEA examine the expenditure? Did the HEA examine the infamous flight from Waterford to Dublin? Can the HEA explain what the consultant was working on with the Department of Education and Skills, why he was in WIT and why was it was necessary to fly him or to transport him in that way from Waterford to Dublin? What action has the HEA taken in respect of WIT? What meetings have taken place with WIT to investigate these figures?

In the opening statement you said that robust processes and systems combined with constant vigilance and regular reviews of processes and procedures as well as a prompt reaction to any failures were key components of an effective accountability and control system. Do you accept that the HEA had none of these over ten years? Will you explain to the committee how this happened in WIT?

Another thing that surprises me is the consistent approach of which you speak. I would have expected this to be the norm in the way the HEA examines the spend in each of the universities or institutes and that the HEA would insist on it. This is taxpayers' money. It is a scarce resource and I would expect a better response in terms of controls from now on and a better explanation of what happened in the past as well.