Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 6 April 2017

Public Accounts Committee

2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Waterford Institute of Technology: Financial Statements 2013-2014

9:00 am

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I wish to endorse the comments of the Cathaoirleach and those of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the issue of timeliness in financial reporting. It is entirely unacceptable that institutes of higher education, whoever they are, can float in here with archaic, out of date records. I want, therefore, an assurance from everybody concerned that they understand that is not on and has to stop. Whatever steps they have to take to straighten that out, whether it is the Department, the HEA or elsewhere, it should be straightened out. It is not acceptable to the committee or taxpayers who fund all of this, and they also fund the Department of Education and Skills and the HEA.

I am alarmed at what is unfolding in a piecemeal fashion in respect of this sector. It strikes me that in terms of governance and good practice that the higher education sector is in a mess. Alongside this committee, the Department and the HEA are responsible for overseeing and insisting that this mess is straightened out. It strikes me that some of these institutes are personal fiefdoms. They seem to be run almost like the wild west and that is not good enough. I want to be helpful by making some requests and suggestions. First, in respect of the governance of these institutions I do not believe that we have had a comprehensive or fully frank account of what has happened or what has been revealed by whistleblowers in terms of how their disclosures have been processed and managed, or how those individuals have been treated.

I recall that, back in 2014, Mr. Ó Foghlú from the Department of Education and Skills, who, unfortunately, is not with us today, informed us that he had given an instruction that the whistleblower matters were to be resolved or sorted out with an eye to the new legislation. I do not believe that happened, however. It is as simple as that. I am not convinced and I need to be convinced that it happened. Therefore I would like to get a comprehensive written account from the Department and the HEA in respect of protected disclosures made in each of these institutions. The witnesses do not have to give us identities - that is not necessary - but I want a full account of how those matters were processed and how people were held to account at every level, up to and including the boards and paid executives of these institutions. I would like the Department and the HEA to furnish us with a full bird's eye view of exactly what happened without delay. We would then have to consider that information and see how we can move forward.

I am citing whistleblowers but I could also cite human resources departments and their processes, or many other facets. As our starting point, however, we should focus on the whistleblowers because let us remember that is the genesis of much of the information on malpractice that has been uncovered and which we now have.

My second point concerns the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Deputy Connolly raised earlier the inability of the Comptroller and Auditor General to audit foundations. I share her concerns in that regard.

I want to pinpoint a related but more specific issue, intellectual property, the commercialisation of intellectual property and the spin-off companies that arise from it. It is about the money that is generated by the commercialisation of intellectual property, what goes where and who gains from it. I am very concerned that the taxpayer, the Committee of Public Accounts and the witnesses do not have proper oversight of exactly what is happening in that dynamic across the higher education sector. I am absolutely determined that we get to the bottom of it, that we get concrete assurances on governance arrangements and conflicts of interests. From the point of view of the taxpayer, we should get an absolute assurance that when as taxpayers we invest in learning and innovation, we are getting a return on it and are fostering an environment in which innovation is encouraged and prolonged. I am worried that this process is allowing opportunities for private gain by individuals or corporates and is leaving the taxpayer behind.

I wish to put a proposition to the Comptroller and Auditor General that a special investigation be conducted into the commercialisation of intellectual property and that the protocols and processes be examined institute by institute.

All members know that this sector is absolutely essential for the growth and development of society for the benefit of our children and ourselves and for the knowledge economy. This is the pulse and is where it happens or not. I am concerned about the messing and the sloppiness. I think the Department of Education and Skills and the Higher Education Authority have been asleep at the wheel. I cannot arrive at any other conclusion when one sees the absolute mess that surrounds these institutes. I hope that from today, not just the individual colleges but the system will understand that this is not good enough. That needs to stop.

I am making two firm propositions to the HEA and the Department on whistleblowers and governance. I am requesting the Comptroller and Auditor General to get under the bonnet of the commercialisation of intellectual property and the very considerable resources and money that are generated through that.

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