The State agency Údarás na Gaeltachta has been reprimanded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs over the manner in which it appointed a former chief executive to undertake consultancy work.
In a letter sent to the agency, the department has outlined a number of restrictions that must apply to the agency and has informed the Comptroller and Auditor General of its concerns.
The part-time consultancy contract was awarded in November 2005 to former údarás chief executive Ruan Ó Bric to raise private support for NUI Galway's four Gaeltacht campuses.
Acadamh na hOllscoilíochta na Gaeilge, as it is called, is to be developed at three established campuses at Carna and Carraroe in Co Galway, Gweedore, Co Donegal and the planned fourth campus in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry, under a €52 million development initiative.
The plan involves both State and private-sector funding for capital and running costs, and Mr Ó Bric was charged with sourcing private monies. Some 60 per cent of his fee was to be paid by the údarás as part of its commitment to the initiative.
The contract is valued at €185,000 over three years, but was not advertised beforehand. Mr Ó Bric had taken early retirement from his position as chief executive the previous April, and had the option under agency guidelines to remain on as deputy chief executive. He took up the consultancy instead some seven months after he left.
Director of the acadamh, Peadar Mac an Iomaire, defended the decision last summer when it was raised by Labour Party Gaeltacht spokesman Brian O'Shea. He argued that Mr Ó Bric had both considerable experience within the údarás and through his membership of the university governing body, and the "charisma" and contacts to raise vital private funds both in Ireland and abroad.
In its letter to the agency's chief executive, Pádraig Ó hAoláin, and presented last week to an údarás board meeting, the department's assistant secretary, Seosamh Ó hÁghmaill, says that it is "a source of grave concern" that the agency did not comply with the provisions of circular P18/126/98 issued by the Department of Finance regarding the retirement of chief executives of State bodies. The agency has been asked to comply in future with appropriate rules and guidelines, including the prohibition on re-employment, directly or indirectly, within the same organisation or within the same sector of public service. It has also been asked not to take any such decision in future without written permission in advance from the department.
Responding, Mr Ó hAoláin said that the matter arose over a "difference in interpretation" of the guidelines between the agency and the department, and this had already been conveyed to department officials before the letter was issued. The agency would implement all standards relating to transparency and best practice and would adhere to the guidelines, as laid down, he told The Irish Times, and this would be conveyed in a response to the department.
The position which Mr Ó Bric took up was an exceptional one, and he was not working directly for the údarás, Mr Ó hAoláin added.
However, both the údarás and the Gaeltacht would stand to benefit from any funding raised by Mr Ó Bric that contributed to third-level educational initiatives, he said.
