The university research sector wrote off nearly £2 million in bad debts in the early 1990s, according to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into the education sector accounts.
Capital projects in University College Cork (UCC) significantly over-ran their budgets, in one case by over 100 per cent of the original anticipated cost, according to the report. The college is also criticised for failing to follow procedures for public tendering of building contracts.
The report, the first such financial audit of the university sector to be made public, reveals cost overruns on capital projects by universities, a number of loss-making activities and failures in the procedures for managing research in the year ending September 1995. The Committee of Public Accounts will meet to consider the implications of the report in due course.
Write-offs of £1 million in the area of research were made by universities in what the report describes as "recent years", while provision had been made for the non-recovery of a further £800,000 in bad debts up to September 1995.
The CAG also noted significant overruns in capital projects. In UCC, a Food Science and Technology extension, budgeted at a final cost of £5.67 million was eventually completed for £6.53 million. The New Granary Theatre, which was expected to be completed for £450,000 originally, was finally completed for £911,000.
The report also found that just over one-third of the potential income of £127,000 per annum from UCC's Dental School and Hospital was deemed uncollectable because the billing system used did not have the capacity to send accurate statements on time to patients.
UCC is also criticised over the development of part of the National Microelectronics Research Centre, a £2.6 million project. The report notes that the appointment of a design team was not subject to tender, which led the Higher Education Authority to refuse to provide £1.1 million of the total cost.
The report also raises questions about the viability of the Cork University Press, the publishing house established by UCC in 1925. Its operation cost UCC £472,000 between 1993 and 1995.