AN education authority in the North is under fire after a series of junkets including one where civil servants racked up a bar bill – for an incredible €2,500.
In fact the CCEA – which sets curriculums for the six counties – managed to spend an incredible Stg15,849 during a trip to Letterkenny.
And the conference in question lasted for just TWO DAYS.
The cash was splashed at a time when hard-pressed principals were begging for extra funding for crumbling classrooms.
Details only emerged after a fed-up teacher put in a Freedom of Information request into the North’s government at Stormont.
Eighty-eight civil servants enjoyed the Letterkenny conference.
On one occasion the CCEA decided to have a conference in Galway – and flew 40 staff by private jet from Belfast!
Nice work if you can get it….
And the North’s politicians are going mad over the lavish splashing of taxpayer’s cash.
Deputy chairman of Stormont’s Education committee and former UUP finance spokesman David McNarry described the CCEA expenditure on “jollies” as “lavish” and “scandalous”.
Mr McNarry said: “They have been found out in abusing finances that could have been better used elsewhere and setting a very poor example.
“What makes it more scandalous was that the maintenance backlog in schools was known. There was never an abundance of money and such spending was not justifiable, and the question has to be asked how were they able to get away with this?”
