National Parents Council is facing criticism for publishing information like bank details of people it paid

Mai Fanning, the president of the National Parents Council Post Primary. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Mai Fanning, the president of the National Parents Council Post Primary. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Mai Fanning, President NPCPP

Mai Fanning, the president of the National Parents Council Post Primary. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Wayne O'Connor

March 12 2023 02:30 AM

An under-fire parents’ council deemed “not fit for purpose” in a financial and governance audit had published sensitive information including bank account details for suppliers and workers online last week.

Sources told the Sunday Independent the audit of the National Parents Council Post Primary (NPCPP) has led to concerns that friends or relatives may have benefited from securing work and payments from the representative association.

A government source said the audit raises serious questions about the council’s procurement processes.

The NPCPP and its president Mai Fanning declined to address these concerns this weekend.

Questions have been asked of how the NPCPP spent €220,000 in state funding last year after auditors Governance Ireland said the representative association failed to cooperate with a review of its finances.

The review shows almost €6,500 was paid to photographer John Ironside last year, Ms Fanning’s former business partner. Company office records show Ms Fanning and Mr Ironside were listed as directors of a travel business, Quest Beyond Limited, before it was dissolved in 2010.

The payments to Mr Ironside were among 40 transactions involving various suppliers queried by auditors in the NPCPP review.

Responding to the review last week the NPCPP denied it failed to engage with the review process. It published a tranche of documents online including a sample of invoices the council said were submitted by Mr Ironside for work on council reports.

One invoice for €1,266.87 relates to work preparing and printing a 12-page Leaving Cert report. Another €1,730.30 invoice referenced work done on a 22-page helpline report. Invoices for an outstanding €3,502.60 auditors said was paid to Mr Ironside were not disclosed in the published documents.

It also failed to outline how or if many of the services it availed of last year were procured or tendered for.

However, in some instances the council did publish quotations and other information around costs it received from suppliers.

Other details published online included names, addresses, phone numbers and private bank details of individuals it made payments to, including those who supported a helpline it runs.

Personal expense claims for council members were also published including the type of car they drive, car registration details and mileage incurred carrying out council work.

A source with knowledge of the published data said this was highly personal and sensitive information.

Some records were later removed from the council’s website last week.

The NPCPP did not respond to questions about the publication of this information last week. Ms Fanning and Mr Ironside also failed to respond to efforts to contact them this weekend.

Other NPCPP board members failed to respond or said “no comment” when contacted by the Sunday Independent.

A draft audit report says the council’s board no longer enjoys the confidence of key stakeholders in the sector.

Governance Ireland said Department of Education funding of about €225,000 a year could have been used better and funded an executive to run the NPCPP day-to-day. “In our opinion there is a clear gap as a result,” auditors wrote.

A NPCPP spokesman rejected the findings last week, questioned the audit's independence and said it presented “comprehensive” responses to auditors' queries.