Dubliner Tony Murphy has been elected president of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), the independent body which scrutinises the effectiveness and efficiency of the European Union’s spending programmes.
A former auditor at Ireland’s Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General in Dublin, Mr Murphy has risen through the ranks in EU institutions since being seconded as a national expert to the European Commission in 1999.
He was nominated Ireland’s member of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Auditors (ECA) in 2017.
“The ECA members elect the president from among themselves to serve as a ‘first among equals’ for a renewable period of three years,” the ECA said in a statement.
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“The president is in charge of the institution’s corporate strategy, planning and performance management, communication and media relations, legal matters and internal audit, and represents the institution in its external relations.”
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The ECA’s role is to investigate EU policies and spending programmes, how well they are designed and their implementation at national level.
It highlights risks, shortcomings and good practices where they are detected and offers advice to guide the better spending of EU cash.
Last year, Mr Murphy flagged the risk of misuse or waste of funds from the EU’s €750 billion Covid-19 stimulus programme.
“Obviously where money is being put out quicker, normally you would say the risk of fraud is inherently higher,” he told The Irish Times at the time.
“The emphasis is to get this money out quickly... which obviously can provide opportunities. But I think for us the other risk is that we would get projects which are not the best quality.”
