The cost of an IT system for the student grant scheme, SUSI, has overrun by almost three times the original budgeted figure of €2.2 million.
It emerged at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where the Comptroller and Auditor General raised his concerns about the overspend by the City of Dublin Educational Training Board (CDETB) on the ongoing ICT project.
The project started in 2015 and by 2024, the project called 'My SUSI' had run to €6.4 million and is said to still be in a "pre-project phase", or unfinished.
"It's outrageous that...we've now spent three times what the original budget was, and we're still at pre-project phase," Fine Gael TD Grace Boland said.
The C&AG said the SUSI system was operating under the aegis of the Department of Further and Higher Education.
Ms Boland said that the CDETB and the department should be written to and asked for further information.
Concerns over train management system delay and ovespend on park steps
Concerns were also raised at the committee about delays to and the cost of the Train Management System at the National Train Control Centre at Heuston Station in Dublin.
Labour TD Eoghan Kenny raised the issue of the centres.
Deputy CEO of the NTA Hugh Creegan said the building would house three control centres, including a garda traffic control centre, making it a complex project.
The new commissioning date of the system has been given as 2028, but the NTA says that the target could be missed.
The cost overrun is estimated to be around €41 million, when the project is completed.
Mr Creegan said it was not yet known what the final cost of the project would be, and that €150 million had been spent so far.
Mr Kenny also raised the issue of the cost of €750,000 for 14 steps at Deer Park in south county Dublin.
The NTA said it funded the project as it was part of an active travel scheme.
Mr Cregan said, notwithstanding the €500,000 overspend, it did go to tender as required under public procurement rules.
He said "certainly there were things that could've been done better".
Social Democrats TD Aiden Farrelly asked "how on earth a 14-step project ultimately cost €750,000?".
Mr Creegan said that was a simplistic view of the project, but said he thought it "should have been possible to do it cheaper … but it’s a good project".
Mr Farrelly asked if the complexities should not have been foreseen.
"There are things that have could have been done better, that would have reduced the cost," Mr Creegan said.
"For us, this is a good project ... it was worth doing. It's a pity it cost as much as it did, I think if there was greater care taken at the design stage, some of those costs could have been taken out," he said.
Mr Farrelly said it was very frustrating to see such a sizeable figure spent on a such a project and asked to see some correspondence on the matter.
Concern over rents paid by OPW tenants
The committee also heard concerns about the rents paid by tenants of the Office of Public Works.
Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne said there seemed to be reluctance by the OPW to provide details on rents, which ranged from €670 per annum to €4,160 per annum, which she said "absolutely flies in the face of the reality of what people are living in the depths of the property crisis".
She said that "the time has really come for these nod and wink arrangements to end".
Eoghan Kenny referred to the rent paid by former garda commissioner Drew Harris to the OPW, which he said was not dealt with by the OPW in their written response to the committee.
He said: "I think it's clear that no market values are being done on properties under the OPW’s remit," adding, that some people were paying just €13 a week in rent to the OPW.
In total, 55 properties are owned by the OPW in the Phoenix Park, half of which are vacant, the committee heard.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady said this was scandalous in the midst of a housing crisis.
"Whilst they give a range of between €670 per annum ... I think raises very serious concerns," Mr Brady said.
He said they needed to "get under the bonnet" of "this sweetheart deal".
The OPW said there is an arrangement between gardaí and them in relation to rent.
Mr Brady raised the issue of former head of the OPW Maurice Buckley approving a course he took in Paris.
The HR unit of the OPW had raised concerns about the cost of the programme, which ran to €40,000 and the cost of subsistence and travel, as well as his short remaining tenure at the OPW after the 18 day course ended.
"We need more clarity on this. We need to get communication from the Taoiseach’s office in relation to this," Mr Brady said.
He also said that PAC would write to all government departments requesting information from them about approval for travel abroad for training courses.
The C&AG said that as a general principle, it is not appropriate for someone to sign off on benefits that accrue to themselves.
