Anger at Cabinet over Arts Council's 7m spend on failed IT project as minister orders major review

Arts minister Patrick O'Donovan expressed deep concern over the governance failures leading to the Arts Council's nearly €7 million expenditure on an abandoned IT project. The system, intended for managing funding applications, ended up costing €6.675 million, with €5.3 million written off. An examination revealed that the council lacked adequate resources and oversight for the project. Given the substantial funding increase for the Arts Council to €140 million, he has initiated an external review to ensure effective use of taxpayer resources.

"The Arts Council was not prepared for the scale of the project and did not put in place adequate resources to deliver it."

"It is vital that all stakeholders can have confidence that these resources are being used appropriately, that the operations of the Arts Council reflect best practice and that waste is being avoided."

Read at Irish Independent