Sinn Féin spokesperson on Gaeilge, Gaeltacht, Arts and Culture, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, has called for clarity from Fine Gael Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Patrick O’Donovan on the waste of almost €7m by the Arts Council on a failed IT project.

The Dublin South Central TD said:

“Not only did the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sign off on the now infamous Arts Council IT project in 2019, but we also know that the Department was aware that there were problems with this project as far back as late 2023, when the Arts Council sought assistance from an office within the Department.

“On both of these occasions, Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe was the Minister at the Department.

“Does that mean Minister Donohoe was ‘ag insint bréag’ when he said on Morning Ireland last week that he first heard of the problem two weeks previously, or were his officials keeping the problem from him?

“What level of oversight did he, as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, require for multi-million euro projects to which he gave the go ahead to spend taxpayer’s money?

“Where is the review of this project conducted by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer within his Department in 2024, and did Minister Donohoe know about it?

“I also had to complain to the Ceann Comhairle about the answer the new Fine Gael Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport Patrick O’Donovan gave to my parliamentary questions on this matter two weeks ago.

“I am grateful for the assistance of the Ceann Comhairle in instructing the Minister to provide a better answer when his first response failed to ‘address each and every request for information contained in line’ with Standing Order 55.

“Sadly even this new response fails to answer the fundamental question of when his Department was first made aware of the overspend, just an admission that ‘there were flows of information to the Department, but no progress report issued to the then Minister or Secretary General’.

“The 2023 annual report of the Arts Council, which I note was only published by the Minister after I asked about the delay which he still has not explained, states clearly that the Department was ‘updated and informed throughout the project’. The Minister signed off on this account as fact.

“Almost €7 million of taxpayers’ money wasted, and nobody thought to tell the Minister.

“I welcome the news that there will be a review of governance within the Department, whose hands-off approach has now required external reviews of governance at both RTÉ and the Arts Council.

“Will this review of the Department also be external and time-bound, and will its findings be published in full?

“Taxpayers deserve transparency, not me having to drag information out of Minister O’Donovan.

“If Fine Gael ministers can find the time to provide a running commentary on the radio of wasteful spending for which they in Government have been responsible, it is high time that they found the time to make a full statement to the Dáil. Dodging questions is not a good look.”