The Arts Council has mothballed a multimillion-euro ICT project after its development stalled over several years.
Details of the spending on the project, which had been envisaged as a root-and-branch overhaul of its system for receiving and processing funding applications, are said to be contained in the Arts Council’s long-delayed 2023 annual report, due to be published soon.
The report was originally submitted to the Department of Arts and Media in July of last year, after which further information was sought from the Arts Council.
This information was given to the department in October of last year, just before the general election was called. The department did not reply to a query asking why the report was not published at the time.
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The then-minister for arts and media Catherine Martin did not respond to queries on Monday.
Sources with knowledge of the project said it was originally approved in 2018 with a budget of €3 million, but that issues and delays began to emerge during its development, with the budget increasing as time went on.
The company originally contracted to develop the project is no longer involved, and it is understood that the board of the Arts Council took the decision to stop its development last year, after originally pausing it towards the end of 2023.
There is a possibility that some of the work done on the project to date could be conserved and used again on an alternative, but sources said they expected there to be a significant loss booked on the project overall. The Arts Council also brought in outside consultants to work on the project.
The annual report was approved by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the board of the Arts Council in June 2024 and then sent onwards to the department the following month.
A spokesman for the department said further clarification was sought in August 2024 “under the financial reporting framework and accounting treatments”, confirming this further information was received on October 25th last year.
The Arts Council said its report is usually published towards the end of September or at the start of October.
The report is expected to be brought to Cabinet shortly by new Minister for Arts and Media Patrick O’Donovan, after which it will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and published. The Arts Council’s chair and director are understood to have been in the department for talks last week.
The original developer of the project is understood to have engaged in a mediation process with the Arts Council.
A spokeswoman for the Arts Council said it is “very happy to discuss its annual report 2023. We will be in a position to do so once it has been published by Government, and we understand this will happen this week.”
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