A range of new procedures for tendering and contract-monitoring processes were recommended at Technological University (TU) Dublin after a review of a €4.7 million spend on consultants’ reports raised questions about whether the governing body had approved all of the money.
The university’s president subsequently confirmed that the governing body had approved a spend of €3 million on the reports, which dealt with management structure and related topics in the wake of the 2019 merger of three institutes of technology into a single entity.
The governing body was told last November that the university’s internal audit section had asked its audit and risk committee to conduct the two-part review of tendering in relation to the contracts, as well as the project’s management and the value for money delivered.
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In February of this year, TU Dublin president Prof David FitzPatrick told Paul Murphy TD, in a response to queries raised, that between March 2020 and December 2022, €3.6 million had been paid for the delivery of the organisation design reports which two firms, Crowe Ireland and PA Consulting, had originally been commissioned to produce.
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He said, however, the university had then separately identified a need during this time for support with communication and change management and that the companies were paid an additional €1.1 million to provide services in these areas.
The figures he cited in the exchange indicated that €1.7 million more had been spent with the consultants than had been originally approved by the governing body.
The university told The Irish Times it had commissioned Deloitte to review the procurement and contracting arrangements in relation to the project, including the procedures for updating approvals from governing body.
It said the review had made a number of recommendations, including a new system of appraisals for projects costing between €500,000 and €5 million, and rigorous procedures for seeking approvals from the governing body. These have since been adopted.
“To ensure approval is sought on a timely basis, TU Dublin has also added an early-warning mechanism to the university finance and procurement system, which notifies the procurement team when a contract value has reached 80 per cent. This will allow the procurement team to engage with the contract owner to establish whether approval to increase the contract is required or if a new tender process should commence,” the university said.
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Prof FitzPatrick confirmed in a recent email to staff that the Higher Education Authority is to commission an external review of its finances after a €10 million shortfall was projected for next year due to “a reduction in student numbers combined with significant cost increases”.
A drop of more than 2,400 full-time equivalent students in 2022/2023 has caused considerable surprise outside the university given the general growth in numbers across the sector. It is a key issue given the direct link to public funding.
The external review is expected to be completed by mid-October. The university is understood to have reserves of more than €100 million and it is not expected that any additional funding will need to be provided.
