Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Arts Council business transformation project has cost almost €7 million and resulted in a significant loss to the Exchequer. This loss has highlighted governance issues in the Arts Council and significant lapses in oversight by the Department, which was informed from early 2021 of challenges in progressing the business transformation project and which received periodic updates at further stages of the project. I assure Deputy Ó Snodaigh and the House that I am not satisfied - quite the contrary - with the decisions of officials not to inform the then Minister or the Secretary General and am determined to ensure the issues highlighted are urgently addressed.

It is clear from the report on the examination of the Arts Council business transformation project commissioned by my Department that while there were flows of information to the Department, no progress report issued to the then Minister or the Secretary General in respect of this project prior to the summer of 2024, either directly from the Arts Council or from within my Department. This report details the evolution of the project, the decision-making process and the flows of information between the Arts Council and the Department. For example, the report highlights that the council had sent the Department an update report for the April 2021 stakeholder board meeting. That showed that the project was tracking red and that its launch was postponed from the original April 2021 launch date to an interim launch in November 2021 and a full launch in April 2022. It also stated that project delays would impact the budget and listed key risks to the project.

Accountability is fundamental to public confidence in our public services. Given the importance of the work of the Arts Council, it is critical this confidence is restored. I have recently announced an external review of the governance and organisational culture in the Arts Council. I also presented to Government the draft terms of reference for a review of my own Department’s internal governance operations, focusing on governance, risk and escalation processes. This review will assess the learnings for the Department from the Arts Council project, the adequacy of its risk management procedures and the escalation measures to alert the management board of the Department to relevant issues.

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