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," Grace Boland, Fine Gael TD 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.
Concern over rents paid by OPW tenants
Concerns have also been raised at the PAC 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".
Labour TD 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.
Deputy 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."
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," Deputy 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.
