University

Why Did Universities Pay Staff Unauthorised Amounts?-Public Accounts Committee





The findings of a report published by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General which revealed that some university staff were paid above approved levels and that performance related bonus were paid without prior sanction will be scrutinised with the heads of the Universities at todays (23rd) meeting of the Dail Public Accounts Committee.



The meeting will take place in Committee Room 1 of Leinster House at 12:30 pm.



The report published last week raised serious concerns regarding unauthorised payments to some staff members, it stated that some academic staff retired on enhanced pensions and that better monitoring was needed to ensure that staff did not surpass the authorised levels of external work.



Committee Chairman, Bernard Allen TD said;

“The conclusions in the C&AG report are troubling. It highlights instances were some universities handed out a litany of unauthorised allowances, bonuses and enhanced pensions.



The report states that while colleges are taking steps to bring an end to these extra payments, in most cases no action has been taken to recover the monies. The Committee intends to ask hard questions to the heads of universities, the Department of Education and the Higher Education Authority as to why these practices prevailed.



In 2009, the third level education sector was allocated €1.6 billion in State funding from the Higher Education Authority. This is a hugely significant sum and good value for money must be achieved on this huge invest



Every area of expenditure needs to be put into the microscope to make certain the tax payer is receiving a proper return on its investment.”