Reporting By: Oonagh Smyth, RTÉ Investigates
Details of reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General and a draft Department of Education report into the Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board use of its public funds have been revealed by RTÉ Investigates.
The C&AG’s ‘Audit Query’ which prompted a Department of Education and a Garda inquiry, shows that over €1m of public funds have been spent in breach of Department of Education Guidelines and in breach of public procurement law.
The Department of Education in a statement today said: "The matters investigated are of serious concern and the Department has referred them to An Garda Síochána. The Department is also considering legal advice. For this reason the Department will not comment as this time."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The reports highlight how the Kildare Wicklow Education Board’s former Chief Executive Séan Ashe participated in public tendering processes where the contracts were won by companies associated with his family members. None of the required declarations of interest were made.
One Kildare based company, Ashten Engineering, which won multiple contracts is run by the former Chief Executive’s son Michael Ashe and his daughter in law, Jennifer Ashe.
Two contracts won by Ashten Engineering in June 2014 for heating and plumbing work at two schools St Conleth Community College and Blessington Community College worth approximately €593,000 were awarded within a month of the company being set up. This despite Department of Education Guidelines requiring companies tendering for such contracts to have a seven year track record for similar work.
The tender period for both contracts was curtailed to 5.5 days and 10.5 days respectively, also in breach of Department Guidelines requiring a minimum 15 days for all tenders, to ensure as many companies compete on price and terms.After the five and a-half days tender notice, Ashten Engineering was the only company to apply for the St Conleth’s contract.
There was no paperwork justifying a KWETB payment of almost €105,500 made to Ashten Engineering in 2015 in relation to refurbishment work in Manor Mills, Maynooth
The Department queried why a payment could be made in 2015 for works which were completed in 2013 and for which the final account was closed in 2014.
In correspondence with the Department, the former Chief Executive Séan Ashe admitted that as Ashten Engineering was only a subcontractor it should have not been paid directly by the KWETB but through the main contractor.
However, he justified the payment on the basis that it was for additional work done, after the original project was finished. Yet there was no evidence of a tender having been carried out for more work. The consultants referenced as being involved in the tender by Mr Ashe denied all knowledge of it to RTÉ Investigates.
Another company which won contracts, without a tender or for which vital paper work was missing, is Erris Contracts Ltd. At the time it won the KWETB contracts, Mr Ashe’s cousin was a company director.
Another one of Séan Ashe’s sons, John Ashe, who is a KWETB employee also participated in the tender processes of contracts won by Ashten Engineering, the company run by this brother.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s Audit Query of the KWETB’s 2015 accounts queried a major cost overrun in a construction project which was not sanctioned by the Department of Education, as required by their Guidelines. The Guidelines state that there must be departmental sanction in advance for any change orders to construction projects, which affect its costs.The requests to the Department to make such orders must be made by what’s known as the ‘employer representative’, usually the project architect.
However in a school construction project in Arklow College in 2015, the KWETB’s former Chief Executive issued a verbal instruction to a building contractor to speed up works, in breach of Department Guidelines.The total cost overrun on the project was €909,000, over half of which (€483,000) was directly attributed to what’s referred to as ‘an acceleration order’ made by Mr Séan Ashe.
In another school construction project highlighted in the Department of Education report, Mr Ashe also agreed substantial cost over runs with a building contractor, in the absence of the project architect. It’s reported that the former Chief Executive then attempted to get the architect to agree to the payments.The report says the architect refused to sign off on the payments on the basis that ‘monies will not be paid for works not completed.’
In a follow up correspondence from the Department of Education to Séan Ashe, he is also asked why the Department was not reimbursed when summer works projects on two schools came in under budget.
Another issue of concern highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s was the lavish use of the Education Board’s expense account.Hotels bills for one year amounted to €61,150, one third of which were invoices for the K-Club, where KWETB held regular staff meetings. The invoices were reported to lack ‘detail as to the elements making up the invoiced amounts’.
Other expenditures raised by the reports relate to the former Chief Executive’s use of the KWETB credit card and use of the Education and Training Board’s vehicles.
The Department of Education & Skills also said that the report begun by Dr. Richard Thorn, President of Sligo Institute of Technology, submitted to the Department this year is currently being updated to include clarifications sought by the Department.
A new Chief Executive, Dr. Deirdre Keyes, has been appointed to KWETB and the Department Says that "work is ongoing on strengthening corporate governance within the organisation".
