CARD LIMIT OF €700 ‘BREACHED 21 TIMES’

A SECOND audit of more than €1.3m spent using purchase cards in the local authority also found a range of issues with the internal auditor again providing only ‘limited’ assurance that controls were adequate.

The council had in place a €700 limit for individual card purchases, which was breached on 21 occasions in transactions totalling €25,152, according to the report.

There was also evidence that some cardholders were deliberately splitting transactions into several amounts, each of which was less than €700, to get around the transaction limit.

The report said: ‘Internal Audit identified at least 101 occasions involving 41 separate card holders where the sum of the payments made to a supplier on the same date by the same cardholder exceeded the €700 transaction limit.’

Multiple breaches of procurement rules were also discovered where the council had arrangements in place with suppliers, but purchases were made outside of that.

The council is part of a national framework for the supply of cleaning and janitorial supplies to ensure best value for money.

Despite that, almost €19,000 was spent across 253 separate transactions for cleaning supplies on purchase cards by council staff.

Council rules also prohibited the use of purchase cards for travel and accommodation. Nonetheless, the audit found almost €35,000 in spending under that heading.

The internal audit warned: ‘The fact that travel and subsistence expenses are being processed through… two separate systems [also the internal expenses system] may impact on the transparency of how these expenses are reimbursed to staff.’

Auditors also discovered almost €35,000 in cross-border transactions, even though staff were under instructions to only use the cards in the Republic.

In response, the council said there were occasions when services were available at a ‘cheaper cost’ in Northern Ireland. Purchase of IT equipment was also ‘barred’, the internal audit said, but this had been circumvented by using a ‘generic shop’ and accounted for €2,256 in expenditure.