RTÉ Investigates reveals probe into alleged forged Mayo building compliance certs held by council
Gardaí are investigating the discovery of alleged forged building compliance certs held by Mayo County Council in relation to its new €11 million swimming pool in Castlebar.
That's according to RTÉ Investigates which broadcasts a programme, entitled 'Council Chamber Secrets,' tonight, Wednesday, on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 9 35 p.m.
Mayo County Council is aware of the gardaí investigation and is co-operating fully with it.
It is understood the progamme will reveal the complaint was made to gardaí in a town in the midlands.
Speaking to Midwest Radio today, Councillor Donna Sheridan said she was very disappointed to have learned about this matter from an RTÉ press release rather than have been told about it by the council.
"While there is no suggestion in the allegation that building compliance certs in respect of the new Castlebar swimming pool were forged by anybody within the council, the matter should have been brought to the attention of elected members before being brought to light in the media," she stated.
In correspondence circulated to elected members today, Mayo County Council stated it has received the required certification under the Building Control Regulations for the Lough Lannagh Leisure Centre, and these are supported by appropriate qualifications and professional indemnification.
In a report published on the RTÉ News website today, Conn Corrigan of RTÉ Investigations, gave further details on the issue.
He explained one of the sub-contractors who worked on the project was a Longford-based company called Clarke Steep Fabrication.
This company was responsible for supplying and fitting some 100 tonnes of steel, which keeps the facility’s roof up.
Because of the roof’s design, that was no easy task, described by company owner, John Clarke, as "a very complex job."
Corrigan's report outlined: "A major project like the Castlebar swimming pool involved a catalogue of ancillary or supporting certificates from specialist designers, professionals and suppliers.
"They each certify that their work was designed and built in accordance with the proper building and safety standards and assure the materials used, including, for example, the origins of the steel used.
"The council is the owner of the new building. But it is also the control authority, responsible for ensuring the building regulations have been complied with, and the necessary documentation is in order.
"Before the pool’s opening, a dispute over payments arose, and the company withheld its specialist certification.
"But Mr. Clarke later discovered that the council held certificates in its files that purported to show his signature. He then raised the alarm by alerting the council and the Gardaí.
"It is an offence to provide false information to a building authority or falsely claim to be a specialist professional, such as a building surveyor.
"When asked if he had anything to do with the documents, Mr. Clarke replied, "No, absolutely not, no. Those documents are forged. That signature is forged. It’s made out in our name. All our company details are on that cert, but we did not sign them, and we did not issue them."
"One of those forms is actually stating that we are structural engineers. You can see it there yourself. And we’re not structural engineers. We would not attempt to state that we were."
These certificates are required by law and confirm to the council that the material and design of the steel are up to standard.
"We thought that was a very serious matter when we found those documents, and we thought that the council would act on us, but nothing has happened. Absolutely nothing has gone on now nearly three years or more," Mr. Clarke added.
Conn Corrigan's report continued: "Ironically, as the building control authority, the council’s job is to ensure all paperwork is in order and the appropriate people sign certificates.
"In response to our queries, the council said that it did not rely on the certificates in question, and that it was satisfied it has the required certification under the Building Control Regulations.
"It added that it was aware of the garda investigation into the matter and would cooperate with this investigation."
RTÉ INVESTIGATES
Ireland's local authorities spend more than €5 billion a year and have a huge range of responsibilities from housing to waste; roads to parks; and planning to tourism, yet they are subject to very little external oversight.
Councils remain outside oversight bodies like the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee.
RTÉ Investigates has spent the last six months examining how local authorities go about their business.
RTÉ Investigates uncovered systemic failures, which enabled false accounting and employee fraud.
The programme looks at how reforms promised after the tribunals of inquiry never materialised.
This includes:
Why a law introduced to allow inquiries into council’s cannot be used because 20-years on no Minister has signed the necessary order.
And how public standards legislation ran aground in an Oireachtas Committee.
RTÉ Investigates examine a wide number of counties and examples include:
In Limerick...
€1.8 million worth of transactions involving Limerick City and County Council and Irish Water are under garda investigation following the dismissal of a council employee.
In Mayo...
Gardaí are investigating the discovery of alleged forged building compliance certs held by Mayo County Council in relation to its new €11 million swimming pool in Castlebar.
In Galway...
RTÉ Investigates reveal how the discharge of untreated sewage from the council-owned public toilets prompted an ethics investigation into allegations of gross misconduct.
In Cavan...
The council has refused to release an internal inquiry report into the generation of false invoices citing a Garda investigation, which An Garda Siochana said it was not aware of.
John Devitt, CEO Transparency International, said: "Politicians are not inclined to want more meaningful or thorough oversight of them or to disclose more of their financial interests.
"It's called local government, but it doesn't mean that it's any less important than national government.
"For that reason, public have to have confidence that it's being managed and overseen as it ought to be."