Auditors deem Waterford Council’s management of €20 million in funds rife with inadequacies
The Bilberry to City Centre Greenway Link was opened in June 2023. According to consultants RSM, 25% of the project's €5.3 million cost was not accounted for with transaction numbers. Photo: Patrick Browne
Two audits commissioned by the National Transport Authority (NTA) raised concerns over Waterford City and County Council’s “inadequate” record-keeping of over €20 million of Active Travel funds across 2023 and 2024.
The audits, seen by the , gave limited assurance that the council had followed best practice across both years of spending.
Carried out by consultants RSM UK on behalf of the NTA, the reports raised issues with missing documents for tenders and invoices and a lack of conflict-of-interest declarations.
RSM examined four NTA-funded projects in Waterford in 2023 valued at over €13 million, and a further €7.5 million worth of transactions in 2024.
For the €5.3 million 2.1-kilometre Bilberry to City Centre Greenway Link, the Council did not provide any transaction numbers for four instalments that cost €1.4 million.
For an Active Travel scheme in Portlaw, no conflict-of-interest declarations were on file for €700,000 worth of transactions, while supplier names for two payments of over €600,000 were wrong.
RSM highlighted multiple issues in their audits:
- The council did not provide evidence to the auditors that three invoices valued at around €540,000 were approved by an appropriate individual.
- Timesheet records to verify labour costs for an Active Travel scheme in Knockanore could not be obtained due to “GDPR limitations”. Labour costs claimed by the council from the NTA could not be examined due to a lack of bank statements.
- Two law firms (Nolan Farrell & Goff, Lanigan and Curran) operated ad-hoc as the Council’s designated solicitors on purchases of land. The council did not fill out a CEO Order of Appointment, as is required, to formally recognise the firms as the council’s official solicitors.
- RSM did not receive evidence that the council paid VAT to the Revenue Commissioner for over €1 million of costs.
- No conflict of interest declarations were provided for transactions worth €75,000 plus in the Knockanore Active Travel scheme. RSM said managing conflict of interest in procurement is “crucial to maintaining integrity, building public trust, encouraging competition, ensuring legal compliance and preventing bias by ensuring procurement decisions are based on merit and not influenced by personal relationships or financial interests”.
The first of two reports filed by RSM on February 7, 2025, said: “There is, overall, Limited Assurance that adequate procedures and controls have been established and applied over the management of Waterford City and County Council’s 2023 Capital Grants payments for Active Travel Programmes.”
RSM were unable to carry out testing of transactions in several instances due to a lack of sufficient information provided by council management. Council management informed RSM that all available information had been provided.
Council management said that staff turnover and retirements “made it challenging to obtain some of the required information”.
In a statement to the , Waterford City and County Council said: “Waterford City and County Council would like to point out that all issues raised in these audits are procedural in nature, with no indication of serious wrongdoing identified.
“Notwithstanding the point above, Waterford City and County Council is committed to addressing all matters arising from these audits through established governance and control procedures.
“Where recommendations are made after an audit is conducted, these are considered and progressed in line with Waterford City and County Council’s ongoing commitment to compliance, transparency, and continuous improvement in the administration of public funds.”
The Active Travel Scheme is a Government-funded programme designed to develop sustainable transport and promote traffic calming measures.
Waterford City and County Council will receive €8.5 million of Active Travel support funds from the NTA for 2026. The figure comes from a national pot of €360 million.
Waterford Active Travel schemes that were examined by RSM included the North Quays, Farronshoneen Roundabout, Carrick Road in Portlaw and St Saviour's National School, Ballybeg.
The reports come on the back of other audit issues in Waterford City and County Council.
In the council’s 2024 audit, Winterval was deemed to go €800,000 over budget. Winterval organisers have denied the overspend. The council said the overspend did not meet the threshold for a criminal investigation.
Independent Councillor Donal Barry, who raised the issue of Winterval’s overspend at the council’s January plenary meeting, described the recent findings as “both shocking and deeply troubling”.
“To describe the issues identified as merely “procedural failings” is, in my view, a gross understatement,” Cllr. Barry said to the .
“What this report exposes, in my opinion, represents a serious collapse in financial governance involving millions of euro of taxpayers’ money.
“People are entitled to expect that every cent is properly accounted for. The audit report indicates that, in far too many cases, this standard was not met.
“The people of Waterford deserve clear answers. They are entitled to know what went wrong, how oversight systems failed, and what corrective actions have been taken as a result.
“Where disciplinary or remedial action is warranted, it must be pursued in line with established procedures.”
Cllr. Barry said he believed that the issues raised in the audits warranted further investigation in order to restore public confidence.
