Fees and expenses of €5.7m paid to education boards in four years

Over €5.7 million was paid in fees and travel expenses to the members of 11 Department of Education boards and committees over a four-year period, the Comptroller &Auditor General (C&AG) report found.

An audit of such payments revealed that the department had neglected to deduct PAYE, PRSI and the Universal Social Charge (USC) in these cases between 2010 and 2013, resulting in a later settlement of €570,000 paid by the department to Revenue.

Ten committees were audited between 2010 and 2012, and these were joined by the Residential Institutions Redress Board for the last year of the audit.

Separate settlement

A separate settlement of €12.25 million was made this year by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) for its failure to treat properly for taxation purposes payments to examiners and other contract staff.

The SEC took the view that the normal place of work for contract staff already employed as teachers was the school where they worked, or - in the case of substitute or retired teachers - their home.

However, Revenue found that contract staff were employed by the SEC under separate contracts of employment to their core teaching roles, and their normal place of work when undertaking examination duties was the school or schools to which they were assigned by the SEC for tests.

On that basis, Revenue determined that payments to these contract staff to cover the costs incurred in travelling to and from SEC offices in Athlone, or the schools to which they were assigned, were taxable expenses subject to deduction of PAYE, PRSI and USC.

The SEC initially challenged the finding but received professional advice that it would have a difficult case arguing that continuing these payments on a tax-free basis was within the law.

The C&AG noted that the audit was not finalised until May 2015, and as a result the SEC was unable to make the necessary changes before last summer’s exams. Instead, it plans to pay the relevant tax liability for the 2015 exams - estimated at just under €2 million.

Exam costs

In 2014, €34.84 million was paid by the SEC in fees and expenses to examiners, superintendents and other contract personnel, with the total cost of running the Junior and Leaving Cert exams put at €63.16 million.

The C&AG also queried the financial controls operated by the department over home tuition for students with special needs. About 1,200 tutors are engaged in this service annually at a cost of €10.9 million.

The C&AG said: “The department does not have a process in place to procure classroom-based tuition for pupils with special educational needs on a competitive basis. There are risks that best value may not be obtained where competitive procedures are not followed, and that certain suppliers are favoured.”

The department said it was now seeking advice on procurement arrangements.