Director Maureen Kennelly’s oversight of the agency's failed IT project will likely be raised at the committee on Thursday. Senior department officials should also be quizzed about what they knew and when.
Chair John Brady has said examining the council’s €6.5m abandoned IT system is a priority for the powerful committee. The National Gallery of Ireland director will also appear over its unused X-ray scanner.
Under the critical review process, departments must examine if robust governance arrangements are in place at agencies. Could earlier action have nipped problems with the Arts Council IT project in the bud?
Unredacted board minutes released under freedom of information show details of delays, budget overruns, board unease, and a dispute with contractors were all blacked out in public versions released since 2021.
Documents released under FOI show former minister Catherine Martin was well briefed by July 2024, while the senior manager over arts was in the loop by March 2023. Why the "failure" in escalating the issue sooner?
The former Joyce museum, now owned by GAA manager and private emergency accommodation provider Séamus McEnaney, is currently occupied by a group with anti-immigration sentiments.
Released internal documents from the project's post-mortem put its contractor in the firing line. In its first public response, Codec is adamant it did the job to spec, with no liability as the council tries to claw back part of the €5.3m of taxpayers' money.
Last week, the arts minister Patrick O’Donovan told the Dáil that the state agency's existing grant application system was “cumbersome and clunky” but that it was still functional despite a costly failed attempt to replace it.
How far up the project chain to outsource and when to pay for completed work are two avenues people familiar with the procurement of IT systems would explore.
A detailed report into the €6.5m failed IT project lays out who knew what and when in the department, and how problems slipped through the cracks when they could have been flagged at an earlier stage.
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