Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The strategic transformation office, or STO, as it is more commonly referred to, was set up to help implement the famous modernisation and renewal programme of the former Garda Commissioner. The costs associated with the STO are included in the overall ICT budget but I note from the authority's quarterly report that nobody is willing to take responsibility for its budget. The authority's report states ICT "could give no greater clarity since they have no line of sight or responsibility for this budget despite it appearing within their budget lines". The STO states, according to the report, "their understanding was that this was part of the ICT budget and therefore not the responsibility of the STO". Instead, it seems an external contractor is running the office. Accenture was paid €2.8 million in 2015 to set up the STO and the contract has been renewed every year without a tender. The contract states that Accenture is to support the set-up and running of the strategic transformation office. The authority's quarterly report states there will be a 100% overspend of the STO budget for 2017, €4 million instead of €2.1 million. Surprise, surprise, Accenture is the company that will profit from the budget overspend. Did anyone in the Policing Authority investigate this budget overspend of 100% and did any alarm bells start ringing?