A charity set up to raise funds for NUI Galway shelled out €30,398 on 102 taxi trips – an average of €298 per journey – over three years, according to an inspector’s report into its travel and hospitality expenses .

The Galway University Foundation also paid for business class airline travel and for stays in four and five star hotels in cities such as New York, London and Singapore, even though both are regarded as inconsistent with good practice.

The former president of NUI Galway, Professor Jim Browne, who was also a director of the Foundation at the time, was the passenger for 89 of the 102 trips, most of which were Galway-Dublin and Dublin-Galway.

The Foundation also spent €48,584 on business class return flights over the same three year period in 2015-2017, predominantly to New York where the charity’s Annual Gala is held. There was a further €24,1245 on economy travel.

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The flights expenditure included €10,884 for spouses of Foundation directors, with some €7,965 was incurred  for the wife of Prof Browne.

The findings follow an investigation by the Charities Regulator on foot of concerns it received about the Foundation in June 2017.

The inspector’s report deals with the use of charitable funds on taxi services, business class flights, 4/5 star accommodation, spousal travel as well as a number of other matters.

Other areas covered are inadequate controls applied to acknowledgement of donors to the Foundation, budgeting and reporting in relation to events, and weaknesses in internal controls over travel and expenses and credit card usage.

The Foundation is a registered charity set up to raise philanthropic funds for the development of NUI Galway – both from a strategic and an academic perspective – and has raised over €200 million to date.

Inspector Tom Murray noted that in many respects the Foundation “appears to be a well-run organisation”.

But he said there were improvements that could be made such as in documentation and justification surrounding the use of private taxi services and an increased awareness/distinctions between charitable and university business.

In relation to the taxis, the report found that all were operated by a private taxi driver, and when the inspectors initially found no substantial back up documentation on file as to the purpose of trips and justification for using a taxi. As well as Galway-Dublin and Dublin-Galway, there were trips from Galway to Sligo, Limerick, Shannon and Athlone.

In 77 cases, the trips involved the former president on his own while he was in the company of others on another 12 occasions. Some 11 of the trips were related to university activities as opposed to the Foundation’s activities.

In an interview with the inspectors the former president said his role was a demanding one and that it often required attending evening event which finished late only to be followed by early morning meetings significant distances away.

The chair and past chair of the Foundation  board along with the CEO and CFO of the foundation said the presence of the President of the University at events was very important and the use of taxis was necessary.

The inspector found that the NUIG president was allowed travel business class  under the university’s  policy and while business class travel was not the Foundation’s policy, had adopted the policy for the university president.

On this point, the former president told the inspector that “we’re expected to be ready for meetings, being there is important and being tired is not giving your best.”

The inspector found the use of charitable monies for business class flights was inconsistent with general best practice and value for money consideration and the same applied to the use of 4/5 star hotels. Hotels named in the report included the Royal Automobile Club, London, The Fitzpatrick, New York and the Shanri La and Grand Hyatt in Singapore.

In relation to spousal travel, the former president told the inspector that the NUI Galway policy provided for it in exceptional circumstances, such as when it was to the benefit of the university, and that his wife only attended events when requested to do so by the Foundation for the purpose of building philanthropic relationships

However, the inspector said it was inconsistent with best practice and found no evidence within the Foundation’s polices that allowed any form of spousal travel. The report notes that since March 2019, the Foundation has withdrawn spousal travel.

The report also covers significant monies spent on donor acknowledgement/appreciation of contribution including €61,571 at the Galway Races and €9,750 on tickets for the Rugby Autumn and Six Nations internationals.

Other expenditure under this heading included flights worth €15,238 and accommodation worth €16,964 for Foundation and university guests.

The inspectors said while a level of donor entertainment and acknowledged was required when raising philanthropic monies, charities run the risk of reputational damage if their expenditure appears to be excessive.

Other findings included that the Foundation had no credit card policy and that credit card holders have a significant degree of autonomy and lack of control governing actual travel expenses.

Charities Regulator, CEO Helen Martin said: “The charity trustees of Galway University Foundation have been furnished with a copy of the inspector’s report and afforded the opportunity to provide an update on the matters referred to in the report.

“Our Compliance and Enforcement Unit is in the process of following up with the charity to ensure that any actions required to address matters referred to in the report have been implemented.”

She said the report contains points of learning for all charities and “we would encourage those who are responsible for the management and administration of charities to read the full text of the report”.

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