University has yet to explain backdated severance deal
THE University of Limerick ‘misrepresented’ details of two controversial severance payments to the government’s spending watchdog – having delayed telling it anything for nine months.
The finding is included in a Comptroller and Auditor General report released this week, which also reveals that the C&AG is still waiting for an explanation as to why the university eventually provided severance documents backdated by four years.
The two staff members, who were actually kept on in new consultancy roles between 2012 and 2016, received €1.43m between them in severance, pension entitlements and consultancy work.
This was broken down into €773,000 for one individual – including a €231,500 severance payment – and €657,000 for the other – including €220,000 in severance.
These severance payments were over twice their annual salary.
The pensions they received cost the taxpayer an additional €310,000 in comparison to what they should have received, and their severances were inflated by €166,000 above what they should have been.
The C&AG report on controversial financial affairs at UL – unearthed by whistleblowers – is the latest in a series of hard hitting reports into the university, which has seen a number of senior management departures.
These departures include Tommy Foy, the former head of human resources at UL, who was forced to step down in July after being embroiled in a series of controversies.
The Irish Mail on Sunday revealed in February that an internal audit at UL showed that Mr Foy provided inaccurate and incomplete information on four occasions to the C&AG, in relation to severance packages to staff.
The C&AG report now reveals that in January 2015, it requested copies of the signed severance agreements for two individuals.
They requested the documents again in February, and in March of that year, with UL first indicating that it was having difficulty locating the severance agreements, and then claiming they may have been misfiled.
In August, the C&AG informed UL that ‘the failure to provide copies of the signed severance agreements could lead to the university being named in the special report.’
In October 2015, Mr Foy sent one of the signed severance agreements – which was dated November 2011 – and indicated that the other would be provided when sourced. Mr Foy stated that the agreements were signed by both individuals. But the C&AG found that UL only arranged for one individual to sign his severance agreement in late 2015, and then backdated it to November 2011, purporting that it was signed in 2011.
UL has not provided an explanation to the C&AG as to why the agreement had been backdated. Contacted this week, Mr Foy did not respond to requests to comment.
‘Payments over twice annual salary’