Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The issues raised in regard to expenses which occurred in the past in the office of the president in Waterford Institute of Technology are of serious concern. It is incumbent on all public sector organisations and governing authorities to ensure public funds are expended in an appropriate manner. It is simply not acceptable for scarce public money to be squandered on lavish expenses in public institutions.

The Department of Education and Skills and the Higher Education Authority, HEA, are committed to ensuring the efficient and effective spend of all resources within higher education. While it is not feasible for the Department or the HEA to monitor or approve all individual levels of expenditure within the higher education sector, there are clear accountability and governance procedures in place within institutions and reporting mechanisms to the Minister for Education and Skills and to the Oireachtas.

With regard to the particular issue associated with Waterford Institute of Technology, an external review commissioned by the institute to ascertain the extent of spending by the office of the president is nearing completion and I understand the HEA hopes to receive that report shortly. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, has asked officials in the Department, in consultation with the HEA, to consider what further steps may need to be taken and is awaiting that advice.

In the wider higher education sector, under both university and institute of technology legislation, the president is the accountable officer of the institution and is answerable to the committees of the Oireachtas in regard to the disposal of moneys. The legislation also provides that the Comptroller and Auditor General undertake annual audits of the financial statements of universities and institutes of technology, which include a review of expenditure incurred by the institutions. The Comptroller and Auditor General reports regularly on these audits.

Furthermore, and in line with practice in the public and private sector, codes of governance have been agreed at a sectoral level which provide for a range of effective measures around procedures for procurement, tendering, financial reporting, internal audit and travel. This further increases the accountability of institutions by requiring the establishment and implementation of specific mechanisms in these areas.

Robust processes and systems combined with constant vigilance, regular review of processes and procedures and prompt reaction to any failures are key components of an effective accountability and control system. Each university and institute of technology is required to submit to the HEA an annual statement confirming adherence by the institution to all appropriate procedures and measures in regard to financial control, such as I have outlined.

The Deputy spoke also about financial governance in second level schools. Voluntary secondary schools are privately owned and privately managed. The accounts of such schools are provided annually to the financial support services unit, FSSU, which is operated under the auspices of the joint managerial body.

In effect, the FSSU provides an internal audit function for schools in the sector and conducts audits and investigations where necessary. The VECs are audited annually by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The accounts of comprehensive and community schools are monitored on a monthly basis by the schools financial section of the Department of Education and Skills.

The Deputy also referred to primary schools. As he is aware, there are more than 3,000 primary schools in the State and each of these is privately owned and operated under a range of patronage arrangements. Most commonly, the local bishop will be the patron of the Catholic primary schools in a particular diocese. Educate Together, the Protestant bishops, providers of disability services and Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge are the other patrons involved in the arrangements to which I refer. There are no formalised financial accounting procedures in place in respect of primary schools. However, such schools are required to make their accounts available to the Department of Education and Skills upon request.

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