Audit uncovers widespread breaches of credit card policy by County Council staff

An internal auditor has issued a scathing report regarding the misuse of the Donegal Council's credit cards by members of staff.
What was to be a routine audit of the use of 'purchase cards' by council staff was expanded into a more detailed examination of their usage following the discovery of several breaches of policy governing the cards' use in the original samples selected for testing.
The auditor found that almost €1 million was spent in the eight months from January to August 2024 across 276 credit cards held by 250 members of staff.
Amongst the many breaches of policy uncovered were incorrect receipts, insufficient supporting invoices and documentation, and an overall lack of scrutiny of transactions by the designated authorisers.
The audit found several instances where credit card slips obscured itemised invoices when uploaded to the council's financial software system, where approval was given when it should not have been. “Incorrect receipting of purchases of this nature increases the risk of error and fraud,” the auditor's report warned.
Over €150,000 worth of transactions were unreconciled for the financial year 2024, with finance staff telling the auditor that this has been a recurring issue for a number of years.

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Purchase limits on the council's credit cards are generally set at €700 for an individual transaction and to a maximum of €3,500 per month. However, the audit found those card limits are routinely breached, and a sample of transactions analysed uncovered 79 breaches in the eight months under review.
Where the cost of a transaction exceeds the limits set, staff are advised not to use the council credit card but instead follow standard procurement and payment methods.
The auditor said the volume and specifics of some transactions indicate a 'consistent pattern' of unnecessary policy breaches.
Purchases outside of the Republic of Ireland are specifically prohibited by the local authority's credit card usage policy, however that too is routinely ignored and the audit found that staff are using cards while abroad or for online purchases from foreign based suppliers.
Between January and August last year, council staff spent €85,830 in 529 transaction in Europe, the UK and the USA in direct contravention of the credit card policy.
In the majority of foreign transactions, auditors found that VAT was incorrectly accounted for.
Similarly, council policy says that credit cards are not to be used for travel and accommodation expenditure, but in the eight months under review council staff ignored that policy on 408 separate occasions running up a bill a few euro short of €71,000.
The purchase of software, hardware or other IT consumables is also prohibited by the council's credit card policy, but that did not stop staff from spending over €5,400 in that category.
Cleaning supplies too, feature prominently, with some staff preferring to purchase them directly from suppliers rather than buying them through Central Stores which, the auditor says, is supposed to be mandatory. Some €6,685 was spent on cleaning supplies in the eight months investigated.
The audit also lists the 25 biggest spenders, although names have been redacted in the report published on the council's website.
The biggest single spender accounted for €39,441.55 on the council's credit card, or almost five grand a month.
Five other card holders spent sums of between €20,000 and €30,000 between January and August last year.
Between them, the 25 big spenders accounted for a combined €416,273 of expenditure.
The auditor does not accuse any staff of financial wrongdoing in the report.
A draft of the internal auditor's report was circulated to some staff – names have been redacted – on 25 February this year, with the final report circulated – again to staff whose names have been redacted – at the end of April.