A new report has strongly criticised the Irish Prison Service for awarding €97m worth of projects to one construction company without it having to tender for them.
Glenbeigh Construction was given contracts for work on 73 projects at 15 prisons and prison service buildings between 2004 and 2007.
The Public Accounts Committee report says the Prison Service has exposed the taxpayer to the unnecessary risk of claims from other construction companies denied the opportunity to apply for the work.
It also says the Prison Service may have breached EU guidelines and described the Department of Finance monitoring as 'ineffective'.
In 2004 the Prison Service came under pressure to cater for a growing prison population with demands for better and more humane conditions.
It decided to build 50 new prison spaces at Loughan House and accepted the lowest bid of €2.3m from Glenbeigh Construction. However, the job was changed to a 60-bed unit and the price doubled to €4.7m.
The Prison Service should have re-tendered but it did not. Not only did Glenbeigh keep this contract, it was awarded another 72 projects at 15 prisons and prison service buildings all over the country at a total cost to the State of €97m.
These included over €42m for work at Castlerea, €12m at Loughan House, €5m for Shelton Abbey, €4.5m at Mountjoy and almost €21m for what is called Special Service Wide Projects.
The report has also found that another company KMCS - design consultants and quantity surveyors who were appointed to the first project - got 22 other projects without going to tender.
It says the Prison Service did not consult the Attorney General but relied on this design company for legal advice.
Today's report has found that in effect the prison service put a hypothetical building project to the market in order to secure a contractor for a range of building works - when it changed the initial contract it should have cancelled it and notified the EU but it did not.
The report also says that the Prison Service has exposed the taxpayer to potential and unnecessary risks of claims from other construction companies denied a fair shot at the work in the capital programme.
