The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) failed for 2½ years to bill the credit union regulator for his travel to three world conferences, it has emerged.
The Registrar of Friendly Societies, Mr Martin Sisk, travelled to the conferences in Poland, France and the US under a long-standing arrangement in which the league made and paid for his bookings in advance of billing his office.
But no invoices were sent in respect of the 2000 World Council of Credit Unions conference in Nashville, nor of the 2001 conference in Paris, nor the conference earlier this year in Warsaw.
Mr Sisk attributed the league's failure to send invoices to his office to an "administrative deficit". He had made efforts to discuss the matter, he said, and the sum concerned was in the region of €4,500. "Were the invoices ever sent to me? Quite clearly no."
News of the failure to bill the registrar emerges as the league steps up its campaign for a change in the Government's plans to have a new Registrar of Credit Unions answerable to the new Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA).
The league wants the new registrar to be independent of IFSRA and claims it had an agreement with the Government to that effect. League representatives met the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, yesterday evening as part of that campaign.
Both Mr Sisk and the league expressed confidence that the matter of the invoices would be clarified soon.
Discussions were under way and Mr Sisk said he was hopeful that the league would bill this week. "The simple fact is that there has been an administrative deficit, failure or whatever you want to call it," he said.
When asked whether it was appropriate that such invoices should be outstanding, Mr Sisk said: "It's not a question of appropriateness. It's not ideal but, however, we're not operating in an ideal world. I have to say I cannot have responsibility for an administrative failure on the league's part."
Mr Sisk does not regulate the league per se, but he is responsible for the regulation of its 530 member credit unions.
The movement was strongly criticised earlier this year in a report by the consultant, Mr Phil Flynn, which highlighted a litany of internal difficulties. Mr Sisk said: "Once I get those bills, and I will be only delighted to get them, they will be processed."
The league's spokesman attributed the failure to send invoices to "confusion".
He said: "There has been a long-standing arrangement where, as a courtesy, the league has organised the travel, accommodation and accreditation of the Registrar of Friendly Societies to facilitate his attendance at the annual world credit union conference. The arrangement involves the league invoicing him afterwards and his office then paying the bill."
The spokesman added: "There appears to have been some confusion over some recent invoices, but the league is confident that this administrative issue will be resolved shortly."
When asked about the amount concerned in the invoices and the period to which they referred, the spokesman declined to comment, describing the matter as an administrative arrangement with a third party.
"This is not an issue for the league and it is well on the way to being resolved," he said. "We are sure that we will continue to have good relations with the registrar."
A Department Enterprise, Trade and Employment spokesman said the travel was approved. "The Department is happy with the arrangement as part of a cost-saving exercise so there is a benefit to us and to our budget," he said.
When asked whether it was appropriate that such invoices were never sent, he said: "Clearly the arrangement was approved on the understanding that the registrar would be billed eventually and that he would pick up the bill. That was the understanding on which it was approved."
