OPW-run scheme to support the arts had €2m left idle, audit finds

Ken Foxe

An audit of an OPW-run scheme to support the arts found €2 million left idle in an account, projects where it was unclear whether they had started or finished, and financial transfers made for more than the artwork cost.

The internal audit said there were no properly documented procedures for the scheme, while funding intended for one project ended up being spent on another.

The review of the Percent for Art scheme, a Government initiative that sees 1 per cent of the cost of all major State projects allocated to new art or acquisition of art, took place in May 2023.

The internal auditors said they could provide only “limited” assurance on its operation, with a dozen adverse findings made about how it worked.

A copy of their report said: “Three of the ten [Percent for Art] balances were marked ‘project not yet commenced’, yet these projects were marked completed by the Estate Management Unit.

“This resulted in capital projects being completed but without artwork in the buildings.”

It said four were marked as “new art” even though the items had been bought, and that the artwork cost less than the amount of money transferred for their purchase.

The internal audit said there were no final accounts on file for any of the projects reviewed and that a vacancy for a coordinator position had been left empty for three years.

The audit also found that more than €2 million had ended up in a suspense account, with some of the money lying unspent for at least two years.

The report said: “There is a risk that Percent for Art funds are being held for too long.”

It explained how around €665,000 was left sitting in the account for two years while around €480,000 had been idle for between three and five years.

A review also took place of all infrastructure projects worth more than €500,000 where the art scheme would apply.

It found that there were 32 projects that were not in the OPW files which auditors said could lead to an “inconsistent application” of the guidelines.

The OPW told the internal auditors that the scheme had been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, which made work challenging from 2020 to 2022.

They said: “Projects generally could not be progressed during this time due to Covid restrictions that affected construction works and access to sites for art assessment purposes.

“Art galleries were also closed for much of this time; this restricted purchasing opportunities for artworks.”

Asked about the report, a spokeswoman for the OPW said they took a strategic approach to managing the scheme with funding ring-fenced to “ensure the most cost-effective use of resources.”

She said: “In some cases, there are site-specific art commissions and in others, budgets are pooled to facilitate collaboration with stakeholders, or to provide buildings with artworks from the State Art Collection.”