Council challenged over auditor's findings and return of €1.1m. greenway funding

A REVIEW and action plan have commenced after an audit showed money was drawn down by Mayo County Council for projects that did not proceed.

It was brought to elected members attention last month that €1.1 million will have to be returned for Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) projects, and the authority has also been hit with a €160,000 penalty.

Ten projects fell short of the guidelines in terms of draw down of funding. Funding for four - part of the Clew Bay Greenway - has been decommitted.

At their January meeting, members were updated on the review and action plan and following a request by Councillor Donna Sheridan, there will be a further special meeting at the end of February to discuss this and also other issues raised in the Local Government Auditor's Report.

Councillor Peter Flynn said the audit happened in 2020 and it was clear there was a difficulty with the management of projects. He was disappointed that councillors were not informed of it until 13 months down the road.

In February '21 the department effectively shelved the greenway project. "Why were we not informed?" he asked.

On the report before them now, some information was blurred, some names had been redacted, they had to request critical data that was missing, and he had never before received a report that had no signature.

They needed now to figure out what actions are happening, he said, rebuild the council's reputation, and never have a repeat of this again.

Councillor Damien Ryan said he has confidence in the executive and they needed space to bring forward an action plan.

Reinstating the council's credibility and standing in the department was most important, and that they have a transparent plan to deliver on projects in the future.

Councillor Christy Hyland agreed mistakes were made and they had to discover why and where it went wrong.

Councillor Patsy O'Brien noted how Mayo didn't receive a cent in the recently announced €21.5 million rural regeneration funding, stating he would hate to think this rumbling in the background would be a cause for the county to miss out.

The chief executive had to ensure in the future that they are on the right road with regards inward investment.

Councillor Donna Sheridan had a number of questions as to why they are returning money and paying fines, which she posed to the chief executive, and she questioned missing information from the report that had been furnished to members.

She proposed a special meeting at the end of February to get to the bottom of it and move on.

She was supported by Councillor Jarlath Munnelly who said they need action.

The issue should not be personalised. But it was potentially cultural and his fear was that 'we have a culture here'.

"Our reputation is in need of repair and we can only do that through openness and transparency."

Director of services Joanne Grehan said there was clearly a systems failure and an unsustainable work load of what was expected to be delivered, with projects coming together.

They needed to understand the failings and identify the learnings and that work is ongoing.

A senior person is leading that process and an action plan will be formed, including governance, procedures and project management systems.

There was miscoding of various items in job codes, which should not have happened, and that has been addressed.

Audits have increased in Mayo as a result of this audit, she added.

Chief executive Kevin Kelly said money was drawn down in advance of completion of works, which should not have happened, and they were working to ensure that does not happen again.

There is a very clear focus in terms of procedures, project delivery and financial management.

On the decommitted greenway projects, talks are ongoing with Transport Infrastructure Ireland. A project plan will be drawn up for it and TII are open to the council making an additional request for funding in due course.