The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has severely criticised two Government Departments - Agriculture and Finance - over their failure to properly evaluate the €15 million funding for an agricultural and equestrian eventing centre at Punchestown Racecourse in Co Kildare, writes Liam Reid
The PAC found the centre "was hardly used" in its first year, and that only a third of events held there last year were of an equestrian or agricultural nature. A new management structure, which the PAC claimed would strengthen the State's interest, has still to be implemented, while a legal agreement between the State and the racecourse on the centre has not yet been signed, according to the report.
Its publication comes at an embarrassing time for the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, who is using the centre to host Friday's Ecofin meeting. The State is paying Punchestown 60,000 to use the centre and the racecourse, which is in the Minister's constituency.
He personally approved the funding, including a doubling in its cost to €13.8 million in the space of six months in 2000, and a further €1.5 million top-up in January 2002. He also met the Punchestown racecourse management on at least two occasions to discuss the project. The PAC report found that the "need for the centre was not properly evaluated" by the Department of Agriculture. It found the secretary-general of the Department should have ensured that this was done.
It also questioned whether the Department of Finance had procedures in place to ensure that State-funded capital projects such as Punchestown is properly evaluated under the Department's own evaluation guidelines. Last night a spokesman for the Department of Finance said it would be examining the conclusions of the PAC. He pointed out that as part of the new multi-annual budgeting system for capital projects, the Department would be "carrying out spot checks" on other Departments to ensure projects are being evaluated properly.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said it would also be examining the report. The legal agreement with the racecourse was due to be signed tomorrow. PAC chairman, Mr John Perry said it was "very hard to assess whether the taxpayer got value for money" in relation to the project. "This was a closed shop, and the project was never put out to tender."