Limerick college blames 'resource' issues for €3.2m spend on non-supervised procurement
€1 In College A To Suppliers Without A 2017 18 2m Seven Limerick Tendering Proper Total Paid Process A Of
A Limerick college spent at least €3.2m on non-supervised procurement between 2017 and 2019, because of "resource" issues.
Mary Immaculate College Limerick, a liberal arts institution affiliated with the University of Limerick and with more than 5,000 students, spent the money during the academic years 2017-18 and 2018-19, according to correspondence between it and the Public Accounts Committee.
That correspondence resulted from inquiries made by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the State's accountant, on the back of its annual audit of the college.
Public procurement in Ireland is governed by Irish and EU rules. Examples of non-compliant contracts include those awarded without a competitive process, those without a tendering procedure without justification, or those tailored so that only certain applicants may succeed.
In 2017-18, Mary Immaculate College paid seven suppliers a cumulative total of €1,200,532 without a proper tendering process.
Four of those suppliers were follow-ons from previous contracts awarded by competitive tender, but where the contract had expired. Some €454,000 was spent on security services in this manner, €330,000 on cleaning, €280,000 on catering, and €56,000 on security card services.
Two of the suppliers were longstanding contracts for which no tender had ever been processed, encompassing €31,000 on health promotion and €26,000 on hygiene services, and the final supply contract involved an add-on to a previously awarded tender, where the need for a database costing €24,000 had not initially been recognised.
The 2017 figures were likely not comprehensive, however, the college said, as they involved only a sample of contracts, because of no procurement manager being engaged prior to September 2018.
The €2m figure of non-compliant procurement for 2018-19 resulted from a full audit of contracts at the college by that newly installed manager, the college said.
Some €1.3m of that amount stemmed from just four suppliers who had not retendered for their own contract, "due to staffing constraints", with the remainder split between 27 contractors.
In describing the issues surrounding its procurement processes, Mary Immaculate said that, occasionally, public competitions have not been possible, "due to resource issues as well as urgent requirements".
It noted that non-compliant procurement had accounted for just 21% of such expenditure in 2019, and said it was "working towards full compliance".