Statement by Minister Patrick O’Donovan on the publication of the Expert Advisory Committee Independent Review of the Governance and Organisational Culture of the Arts Council of Ireland

Upon taking office last year, it was brought to my attention that the Annual Report for the Arts Council for 2023 included a report by the C&AG of a failed €6.675 million IT project in that organisation.

I brought this report to Government at the earliest opportunity and with the agreement of my Government colleagues, I established an Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) to be chaired by Professor Niamh Brennan to conduct an Independent Review of the Governance and Organisational Culture of the Arts Council of Ireland.

The EAC has now concluded its work and submitted its Report to me earlier this month. I brought this to Government today and they have approved publication.

The Report, which sets out 149 recommendations and includes proposed legislative changes, identifies five key factors which contributed to the project failure and are as follows:

• The Arts Council’s business case for the project understated the costs.
• The project scope and objectives continued to change throughout the project’s lifecycle.
• The Arts Council systems of governance failed, with low senior management cohesion, an immature risk culture and limited Board oversight. The Arts Council lacked ICT and project management expertise, over-relied on third party suppliers and did not properly manage contracts.
• Departmental oversight was too informal and issues with the Project were not escalated to the appropriate level within the Department.
• The Arts Council was also experiencing significant expansion and pressures elsewhere with a significant growth in staff and budget, more than doubling between 2015 and 2023. Managing the project through Covid was also suboptimal.

It is critically important that there is the greatest possible level of transparency regarding the factors that gave rise to such a significant loss of public funds. Equally, it is essential that we are clear about the steps that will be taken to prevent any recurrence of such failings in the Arts Council or in any other State Body.

My Department will now engage directly with the Interim Director of the Arts Council and the Chair to ensure that the Arts Council is supported during this interim period, ahead of what will be significant change in the organisation. This will be important for the wider arts sector. My Department will also establish a robust oversight system to monitor implementation of the recommendations, details of which will be developed over the coming weeks.

Finally, I want to thank Professor Brennan and her fellow Committee members, Dr. Margaret Cullen and John McCarthy for their work in carrying out this review.

ENDS

Notes for Editor

• The EAC has set out 149 recommendations in the report. Of these, 3 are to all Government Departments regarding decision making and communication protocols. 17 are made to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform concerning the regulatory framework governing State Bodies, risk management and the role of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. 31 relate to D/CCS covering a number of issues including oversight of State Bodies, appointments to these bodies and, critically, changes to the Arts Act 2003.
• The remaining 100 recommendations apply specifically to the Arts Council and relate to a wide range of issues including the operation of the Board and its subcommittees, the role of the Director and the Senior Management Team, internal audit, compliance with public policy directives and communication with this Department.
• Significant work to improve governance standards in this Department and in the Arts Council has already taken place since June 2024 on foot of the Department’s own examination of the failure of the project and the independent review by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in 2024. However, the Department will establish a robust implementation and oversight system to monitor implementation of the recommendations, details of which will be developed over the coming weeks.
• The Independent Review of the Governance and Organisational Culture of the Arts Council of Ireland is available on the Department’s website.