The Arts Council has almost doubled its spend on legal costs arising from its botched €6.7 million IT project, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
The project began in 2018 and was designed to overhaul the Arts Council‘s system for receiving and processing funding applications with an original budget of €3 million.
However, following issues and delays and with the budget increasing as time went on, the project was shelved towards the end of 2023 with an estimated loss of about €5.3 million.
Senior staff at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport appeared before the Oireachtas committee on arts on Tuesday.
RM Block
Feargal Ó Coigligh, secretary general at the department, told the committee that while a figure of €60,000 was previously given for the costs of legal redress, that has since changed.
“The Arts Council have since informed the department that it is actually approximately €119,000," Mr Ó Coigligh said.
The committee was previously told the council had commenced legal proceedings against two contractors for the failed IT system and was in the pre-action stage in relation to two others.
This action was taken to try and minimise the cost of the IT system to the taxpayer, the council previously told the committee.
The department had asked the council to cease any further expenditure on these legal cases.
However, on Friday, the council informed the department of the increased spend.
Mr Ó Coigligh told the committee on Tuesday he was “taken aback” by the upwards revision of legal costs.
“We requested the Arts Council to cease all further expenditure, and we’ve since entered into discussions with the Attorney General’s office for advice,” Mr Ó Coigligh said.
When asked if he felt the department was not given the full picture by the Arts Council on the legal costs, Mr Ó Coigligh said: “I think they could have been more forthcoming on the issue.”
The Irish Times previously reported three companies shared €4.8 million between them from the abandoned project.
Documents distributed to ministers named the main technology delivery partner, Codec, as having been paid €1,967,278, including VAT, for its work on the project – with €51,217 withheld.
A second company, named as Ergo, was paid €2,107,206 including VAT across a series of contracts, several of which were extended during the project.
A third firm, named as Expleo, was paid €734,701 including VAT, with another €149,125 withheld by the Arts Council.
