Major concerns have been expressed about financial controls in a scheme run by the Department of Social Protection, according to an unpublished report obtained by RTÉ.
Internal auditors said they had “high concerns” about how funds were allocated, and the lack of follow-up inspections or monitoring of the scheme, which is supposed to help social welfare recipients get back to work.
The audit team discovered that more than one-fifth of certain types of payments were made to people or groups who did not deserve it. And they found that thousands of euro had been spent on clothing, staff costs, travel expenses and one-to-one mentoring – and other payments which the auditors said were ineligible.
The report, which was obtained by RTÉ’s This Week radio programme, into the Activation and…
