Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)

This review is a damning indictment of the Government's failure to address profiteering and cost overruns within the IPAS system. The report outlines evidence of private operators overcharging for the provision of accommodation, including companies charging for beds that were not provided and charging VAT in circumstances where accommodation is exempt from VAT, signed contracts and proof of ownership going missing and no copies of leases. There seem to have been no records kept whatsoever in many cases. One operator overcharged the State to the tune of €7.4 million in respect of VAT, yet still has a Government contract. The report outlined that in this case the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has stated recovery of the remaining VAT overcharged is under review. Does the Minister of State take responsibility for this blatant abuse of taxpayers' money? What actions has he taken to ensure that this money is returned to the State? Will there be a review of all IPAS accommodation contracts?

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