Irish Culture Minister failed to disclose issues with Arts Council’s €6.5m IT system

Ireland’s former Culture Minister, Catherine Martin, was aware of a botched €6.5 million IT system at the country’s Arts Council six months before the controversy became public.

However, she did not disclose the information to the then-Taoiseach, Simon Harris or his deputy at the time, Micheál Martin, Ireland’s current Taoiseach.

Documents obtained by the Irish Mirror under Freedom of Information reveal that details of the issue were included in briefing documents dated July 2024.

In February, the Irish government ordered an external review of the Arts Council following its 2023 annual report, which revealed the new grants application system had been abandoned, with the overall loss estimated at €5.3 million.

The former Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media lost her seat in November’s Irish election.

The two-page briefing note for her was prepared for a press conference on funding of Irish broadcaster RTÉ and Public Service Media.

The note advised Catherine Martin, when addressing potential questions about the IT system, to say she understood “the project is taking longer and is costing more than originally planned and has experienced difficulties in terms of some of the key deliverables”.

She was also advised to state that her officials had been asked to examine the project.

Micheál Martin and Simon Harris were made aware of the issue in February, the Irish Mirror reports.