The Department of Education came in for strong criticism for giving a £99,000 grant to Cork City Football Club towards the cost of a soccer stadium and sports complex which later had to be written off when the club went into liquidation.
One of the conditions for the grant was that a deed of trust should be signed by Cork City entitling the Department to a refund should the facility cease being used for local sports purposes. However, in December 1993 a grant of £99,000 was issued without a deed of trust being in place. The sports complex at Bishopstown was finished in early 1994, and was used as a football stadium until the club went into liquidation in April 1996.
Six months earlier the Chief State Solicitor had advised that the club was in severe financial difficulties and had "stated strongly that the practice of handing over grants prior to execution of the deed was dangerous and should be discontinued".
Cost over-runs on national school building projects also come in for criticism. "It is essential that every effort should be made to ensure that all aspects of the design are finalised before a project goes to tender in order to avoid increased costs later," says the report.
"The unnecessary use of provisional sums or quantities as a substitute for detailed planning should be actively discouraged."
It details seven cases where there were large differences between the estimated cost of school building projects when they were approved by the Minister and the final cost. One project had an estimated cost of £188,000, a building contract price of £480,000, and a final cost of £543,000.
The Comptroller is also critical of weaknesses in the administration of a scheme where 90 teachers have been seconded to organisations outside the Department of Education. There appeared to be no formal criteria for secondment and there was a delay in recouping the salaries of the seconded teachers from the organisations they were now working for.