The Head of Human Resources at An Garda Síochána has described the financial irregularities at the Garda College in Templemore as an "abuse of the public purse" which must never be allowed to happen again.
In documents sent to the Public Accounts Committee, John Barrett said he was "deeply concerned" about how revenues generated from on campus activities came to be banked in over 40 unauthorised bank accounts.
The monies, he says, were generated from rental of accommodation to students, rental of lands belonging to the Office of Public Works, rental of land to Templemore Golf Club, cash from the tuck shop, campus bar, campus laundry, campus vending machines, campus restaurant and campus stationary and book store.
He says it is "impossible to estimate the actual" amount of cash generated by these activities.
Mr Barrett also says questions arose about large sums of money being moved and managed outside normal accounting structures and contrary to Government accounting rules.
He cited in particular a figure of €1.7m.
He says the transactions at the Garda College have compromised the accounts of An Garda Síochána.
He was not happy with the actions of Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan in setting up a working group to deal with the issues after she had been informed of financial irregularities at the Garda College in Templemore.
He said he saw "a real risk that the matters being addressed internally [could] be later misconstrued as a cover-up if we do not reach out to the appropriate offices of State externally and internally".
The Commissioner told the Public Accounts Committee that she set up the working group which included Department of Justice officials but did not inform the Minister for Justice in spite of legal advice to do so.
Mr Barrett disagreed with this decision and said there is no doubt that the decision of the head of legal affairs to advise the commissioner to tell the minister "was the right thing to do".
The commissioner is legally obliged under the Garda Síochána Act to advise the minister of matters of importance.
He also sent the Public Accounts Committee a detailed account of what he says transpired at a meeting in the Garda College in July 2015 where these matters were discussed and which he says was attended by him and the commissioner.
Ms O’Sullivan has said the meeting was a five-minute chat over a cup of tea but Mr Barrett details what he says happened over almost two and a half hours.
Mr Barrett has called for a "root and branch and consequential review".
He says while a huge legal discretion is given to gardaí in policing "there is no discretion around accounting rules".
They are not he says "a la carte" and "the practices uncovered" in the interim audit "cannot be ignored, covered over or explained away".
"These practices operated in plain sight for years.
"This is a statement of our deep culture."
A garda spokesperson said tonight the matters raised by Mr Barrett in documents to the Public Accounts Committee were before the committee.
He said the commissioner's appearance before the committee was adjourned until 13 July.
He also said that the auditor's report was an interim report and that a full audit of these matters was under way
He added that a separate investigation was being conducted by the assistant commissioner in charge of special crime operations and that the commissioner said she would act upon his recommendations.
