Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 24 September 2015

Public Accounts Committee

Technological University for the South East: Report

10:00 am

Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

I have a comment on that. Clearly, Waterford Institute of Technology went through a process with the investigation and we have had a hearing about it. The most important thing for us is that Waterford Institute of Technology welcomed the investigation and engaged with it openly. It found a range of issues, gave rise to us having to lend the institution some capital funding and resulted in a wide range of recommendations. WIT is working through the implementation of those recommendations and those issues are coming up to a certain extent in the audit report which the Chairman is noting today. We plan, as we always do, to review the implementation by WIT of the recommendations in the Quigley report and we have agreed with Dermot Quigley that he will go back in and review the implementation in WIT of his recommendations. We have not agreed the timeframe for that, but envisage it will happen later in the year. As such, we are very conscious arising from the investigation and the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on Waterford that there is a need to ensure that the recommendations are implemented and that the governance structures are working appropriately in WIT. From that point of view, one can understand why Institute of Technology, Carlow would have had some concerns given that this was happening as the process was under way. Mr. Kelly addressed that in his report. Waterford IT has been open about the fact that it had issues and that it wants, and is seeking, to address them. We always planned that this would take place but are now planning to do it by the end of the year. By asking Mr. Quigley to go in, it means it will not be someone who has to learn the ropes again. It is somebody who was there, knows what changes he wanted and can see in person what changes have been made.

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