GARDA SÍOCHÁNA:John Buckley pointed out that it would have been "good commercial practice" to seek a discount on bulk purchases of more than 700 vehicles but that apparently no attempt had been made to do so.
"Paying, in 2006, for vehicles, some of which were not put into service until 2008, raises questions as to the efficient use of public funds," Mr Buckley writes in his report.
He continues: "It would have been good commercial practice to seek a discount on bulk purchases of over 700 vehicles. This did not appear to have been explored."
The accounting officer informed him that "the availability of the additional funds had not been confirmed until the second half of 2006 and consequently the number of vehicles purchased was skewed towards the last quarter of the year".
In addition, the accounting officer explained that, "the principal vehicle supplier, Ford, adopts the approach of quoting the absolutely lowest price allowed under the Ford Motor Company international pricing mechanism".
The report notes that the Garda Síochána operates a fleet of more than 2,500 vehicles, including cars, vans and motorcycles.
The overall allocation for the purchase of vehicles over a 12-month period beginning on June 27th, 2006, was €28.7 million.
A total of 1,379 vehicles was purchased in 2006 and the full allocation was expended.
• Most of the 726 vehicles certified as delivered by December 21st, 2006, were, in fact, held in the compounds of the supplier and the fitting-out sub-contractor.
• 216 vehicles purchased in December 2006 and costing €3.8 million, were still in storage in February 2008.
• Assignment to operational use of the last of the batch of vehicles paid for in December 2006 was scheduled for June 2008.
Mr Buckley's report also criticises the level of non-competitive procurement by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) which suggested that "internal monitoring and control in this area was deficient".
The report states: "The extent to which the IPS resorted to non-competitive procurement in 2007, its failure to disclose medical and related contracts and the marked variation between the 2006 and 2007 returns, suggest a lack of proper control of IPS procurements."
The Comptroller Auditor General acknowledged, however, that the accounting officer "has begun to take steps to rectify these deficiencies".
