News
Anger as NUIG shells out €180,000 to consultant
NUI Galway is under fire from staff and politicians for spending vast sums of taxpayers’ money on consultants.
The university has confirmed that the School of Law has spent almost €180,000 on one consultancy firm for 22 months’ work.
NUIG said its School of Law paid €143,100 for ‘professional services’ from the consultants, Results Through People Limited.
This figure excludes the applicable VAT rate, which would add a further €33,000 and bring the cost of fees to about €176,000.
In addition, this consultancy was paid a further €700 in “certified expenses”, which are vouched and tax-free.
The figures were released to trade union SIPTU following a Freedom of Information request. The response to the FOI has been circulated to hundreds of unionised workers at NUIG, as well as to local politicians.
A whistleblower in the School of Law told the Galway City Tribune there is widespread concern with the expenditure on consultants. “As a taxpayer, this is not the sort of thing I want to see my taxes being spent on.
“It works out at a pro-rata rate of €8,000 per month. I believe this is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money, and there are several staff within the university who are qualified to do the job rather than farming it out to a consultant,” the staff member said.
Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said he also had concerns, and felt that the issue could be looked at by the Public Accounts Committee or the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Senator Ó Clochartaigh said: “Is this just the tip of the iceberg? I wonder what the other schools and departments in NUIG are spending on consultants. There is also an issue around value for money, and would it not be cheaper to hire somebody to do this job full-time. Then there is the issue around transparency and how universities in general are hiring consultants from the private sector.
“I believe that this is a matter that the new Education Minister and new Minister for Finance is going to have to look at when the new Dáil sits – how is NUIG and the third level sector in general spending public money, and is it being spent efficiently?”
The university said senior administrative officer in the School of Law retired from the position in December 2013, after around 40 years service.
The university said it conducted an assessment of tasks required to be completed, and requested an “external expert to recommend a number of consultants with suitable skills sets to complete these tasks”.
In November and December of 2013, Results Through People provided a “few days” consultancy services costing €2,600.
They were subsequently retained for nine months, commencing in January 2014. This contract, the university said, was renewed again the following September, “on a short term basis and on a reduced rate of payment pending the advertisement of the senior administrative officer post”.
The contract with the consultancy was renewed again in January 2015, on a further reduction of payment due in the main to delays in the recruitment process. The average engagement of this consultant in the time period up to October 2015 is approximately 15 days per month.
The FOI response indicated that the total paid to this consultancy, during the 22 months, almost €180,000 when VAT and expenses was factored in.
The university confirmed that the School of Business engaged five different consultants since 2013 but it spent the vast majority on Results Through People.
The university confirmed it paid €7,960 in consultancy fees to Athru Consultancy Limited for “professional services”.
It also hired Allen Design (€5,467), GalwayOnline (€387) and Proviz (€2,786) for “design services”.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
