Local Authority: Clare County Council
Issue: Breach of grant claims procedures
The 2014 Local Government Audit of Clare County Council found that the council had breached grant claim procedures when it wrongly submitted a grant claim to a public body stating that it had incurred costs of €131,000 for a project, which it had not.
The auditor warned the council that grant claims should only be made for actual expenditure and should adhere to rules set out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Similar issues have been identified in grant claims submitted by several other local authorities, involving the submission of documentation to draw down funding.
The grant claim was submitted to the National Roads Authority (which has since been renamed Transport Infrastructure Ireland), involving a project in which the council's salt-spreading vehicles would be upgraded.
In an email sent to the NRA in November 2014, a council official stated that "Clare Co Council have presently incurred €200,435.60 in respect of this project" and attached an extract from the council’s financial system showing "the expenditure incurred to date".
The extract showed various payments, including one for just under €131,000 to a supplier contracted to carry out the upgrades.
However, the payment to the supplier was not made by November 2014 and had been withheld because the upgrade had not been completed. The payment subsequently came to the attention of the Local Government Auditor.
In an October 2015 memo, included in the audit file, the auditor stated: "At audit, it was noted that an invoice for €131k was obtained and processed through the system, recouped from the state grant authority concerned while these works are still not completed at the conclusion of this audit. This is most unsatisfactory."
The auditor also said that the issue had been discussed with the council’s chief executive.
A council official explained to Transport Infrastructure Ireland in March 2016 that "the grant was recouped on the understanding that all works would be carried out very quickly by early 2015" but that the council experienced very significant delays in getting the supplier to carry out the necessary works.
The official said that this had been commented on during the course of the Local Government Audit for 2014.
In response to queries from RTÉ Investigates, the council said that the necessary works were completed in March 2016 and that the final payment was made then.
It also said: "The Council were not aware at the time that it recouped the grant that it would take so long for the committed expenditure to be actually incurred."
