Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

My report on the management of ancillary services at the Garda College follows from the committee's examination and report earlier this year, which dealt comprehensively with concerns around the operation of internal audit, oversight and governance, internal structures and organisational culture in An Garda Síochána. The report does not revisit those matters. Instead it examines the operation, funding and accounting for ancillary services at the Garda College and the management of State-owned land acquired by the Office of Public Works for Garda College purposes. In addition to the college's core training operations, a variety of ancillary services and social activities have operated within the college campus, mainly for the use and benefit of trainees. These include the restaurant, bar and shop, and a number of college clubs and societies.

The operations and costs of the Garda College are administered in a similar manner to those of Garda districts. Most expenditure, including pay, equipment and capital costs, is managed and controlled centrally. Local management is responsible for expenditure incurred locally using funds advanced for that purpose. In addition to the Department-sanctioned public bank accounts used for the operation of the college’s core activities, members will recall that over 40 accounts with financial institutions had been operated, relating to the college's ancillary services. As of August 2017, a total of nine accounts were operating, including three public bank accounts for funding of core activities; two accounts controlled by college management for ancillary services, that is, one each for the restaurant and shop; and four club or society accounts managed by the respective memberships. A summary of the bank accounts is presented in figure 12.3 of the report.

The college's restaurant is the biggest element of the ancillary services, with a turnover of over €1.1 million in 2016. The restaurant was not formally established as a company but had its own accounting records and a separate tax number. The independently audited accounts for the restaurant indicate that up to 2008, the restaurant generated annual surpluses, with around €2 million in accumulated reserves at the end of 2008. Garda recruitment activity was suspended in the aftermath of the financial crisis. As a result, over the period from 2009 to 2016, the restaurant incurred trading losses totalling €1.95 million, which all but eliminated the reserves. The restaurant was primarily funded through retained living allowances, which were paid on a capitation basis to the restaurant for periods when recruits were attending the college. The funding model for the restaurant was changed in May 2017. It is now being run on a net cost basis, calculated from the cost of staff wages and restaurant supplies and taking account of till receipts. A record of the number of recruits in attendance in the college during each payment period is also provided to the finance directorate for information and correlation purposes. This is intended to avoid surpluses occurring in the account in the future.

For comparative purposes, we also examined the arrangements in place in a number of other public bodies that provide restaurant and canteen services on-site for staff and other users. These include the Defence Forces, a number of Departments, third level colleges and the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. Different service models are in place, with some providing services directly and other providing services on an outsourced or contracted basis, procured under a competitive process. The models used are summarised in figure 12.5 of the report. We found that An Garda Síochána did not have a clear framework in place for management of the college restaurant operations. Other bodies have formal arrangements in place that set out the governance structure and accountability arrangements, and how any surpluses generated may be used. I have recommended that a formal framework be put in place for the management and control of ancillary services. The Accounting Officer has agreed to that recommendation.

The other main issue dealt with in the report relates to the management of land at the college, all of which was acquired by the Office of Public Works and made available to An Garda Síochána.

The report outlines the complex legal situation that has arisen regarding the 37-acre site adjacent to the college that is used to provide a golf course and the process for acquisition of a large property at Dromard, 6 km from the college, in 2006 which was intended for development of a Garda training centre of excellence that has not yet been provided. In both cases, there are concerns that the approach taken may not have achieved good value for money. In particular, we found no evidence that An Garda Síochána involved OPW in advising on the granting, in 2000, of a licence for access to the golf course lands to a local club, no evidence that use of the golf course land was considered for college development purposes when An Garda Síochána and the Department sought additional land to increase the training capacity of the college, no evidence that the purchase of the Dromard land and transfer of control over it to An Garda Síochána has been underpinned by any formal agreement or clarification of responsibilities and no evidence that OPW followed up or monitored the extent to which the Dromard farm was used for the purposes for which it was acquired, or that its value was otherwise protected or optimised. I have made a number of recommendations in respect of property management that the Accounting Officers of An Garda Síochána and the Office of Public Works have accepted.