AN AUDITOR for Waterford City Council has asked the local authority to try to claim back thousands of euro from a former mayor of the city for an unapproved trip to the US.
The audit of the council’s accounts for 2008 found that Mary O’Halloran, while mayor of the city in 2008, booked a trip to New York for herself and her husband Tony, “outside of normal council procurement procedures”.
Ms O’Halloran, a former Fine Gael councillor, lost her seat in the local elections last year.
The statutory audit report to the members of Waterford City Council for the year ended December 31st, 2008, said that “the council paid €7,200 for a flight to New York for the then mayor and her spouse”.
The report by auditor James Moran said: “In the course of [the] 2008 audit, it came to attention that the council paid €7,200 for a flight to New York for the then Mayor and her spouse.
“The trip was arranged outside of normal council procurement procedures and was not approved by a specific resolution of the council members as set out in Section 142(5) of the Local Government Act, 2001.
“The council has since amended its procedures in relation to members’ foreign travel . . . I have requested the city manager to investigate if these monies are recoverable.”
The report was delivered to councillors last week.
When contacted yesterday, a spokeswoman for Waterford city manager Michael Walsh said that “he has no comment to make on the matter at this time”.
Ms O’Halloran did not return calls about the matter yesterday.
However, in a local newspaper the Munster Express, published yesterday, she said that a "clerical error on the part of somebody" at City Hall meant that the visit wasn't entered on the list for the monthly council meeting.
This was the practice with all visits, attendances and conferences, it emerged. “If the trip had been entered on the list, as it should have been, the local authority would not have a problem with it.
Ms O’Halloran said that the error should have been pointed out to the auditor and that she “had been on an official visit”.
