‘Funny business’ over prison fuel supply ‘sorted’, justice ministry says

ALL steps have been taken to ensure that no discrepancies occur from here on regarding fuel deliveries to the Central Prisons, the ministry of justice said on Thursday.

It was responding to the findings of the auditor-general, who had spotted irregularities in deliveries of heating fuel oil to the prisons – where on a number of occasions the invoices issued by the supplier did not match the quantities of fuel.

The case unraveled after it was discovered that on February 24, 2015, some 3,500 litres of fuel were delivered to the prisons, valued at €2,235.

But the supplier did not charge for that delivery.

The reason given for not billing the prisons was that the supplier was making up for previous deliveries which had fallen short of the prescribed amounts.

It emerged that on a number of prior individual deliveries the discrepancies ranged from 700 to 1,100 litres less than those actually billed for.

The invoices were issued by the retailer supplying the prisons.

The supplier claimed that the flowmeter of his tanker must have malfunctioned, giving a false readout for the fuel amounts.

But subsequent checks revealed there was nothing wrong with the supplier’s gear.

The auditor-general observed moreover that it was not plausible that the responsible prison officers missed the discrepancies, which were considerable, and asked the prisons director to launch a probe to determine whether any disciplinary and/or criminal offences had been committed.

In a statement on Thursday, the justice ministry said the matter was first brought to their attention by a member of the staff at the Central Prisons.

It said it immediately contacted the state treasury for instructions on how to deal with the supplier, and also queried the attorney-general’s office on whether the affair warranted criminal proceedings.

An administrative probe into the matter is underway, it added.

In the meantime, the Department of Prisons has switched suppliers and has received the amounts of fuel for which it was billed.

According to the statement, photovoltaic systems have for the first time been installed at one of the prison’s wings, while other steps are being taken to minimise electricity consumption.

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