Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the fact that the Minister made himself available today for this query. It is an important issue that the Minister has commented on. We are talking about 20 special needs assistants, 700 medical cards, a number of school extensions or 20 Garda cars. Some €400,000 has been spent investigating what I can only describe as an unacceptable allegation at GMIT. I welcome the statement of the Minister and it is incumbent on me to write immediately to the Committee of Public Accounts to invite the chief governing officer to account for how an investigation has taken over three years and has incurred legal fees of €400,000.

My background is in investigations of workplace allegations, grievances and procedures for that.

I am at a loss to understand why the State has to incur the liability of somewhere short of €400,000 in an investigation when public moneys are pretty scarce, as the Minister knows. His door and the corridor are worn down with Deputies begging for resources to protect more vulnerable people. This is a scandalous waste of public resources. It cannot be condoned and it warrants further investigation. It is incumbent on us to immediately write to whatever Oireachtas committee is responsible for this area so that it can haul in whoever was involved from GMIT management to provide details of how this significant amount of money was spent. This amount was generated by one or two people over a time period of three years. It is nearly the cost of four houses, 20 special needs assistants or 600 medical cards. I am delighted the Minister has not shirked his responsibilities in his response.

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