THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick’s (UL) governing authority was missing “key information” regarding the purchase of the controversial Rhebogue student accommodation development when the purchase was signed off on it, the university’s deputy president confirmed this week.
And, Professor Shane Kilcommins told a meeting of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that if he was asked to sign the same contract again today to authorise the Rhebogue purchase, as he did in 2022, he would not do so.
At Thursday’s PAC meeting, it emerged that Professor Kilcommins, UL’s deputy president and provost, had the final sign off on the decision to go ahead with the acquisition of 20 houses in Rhebogue to be used as student housing.
It was also revealed that at a previous PAC meeting, UL’s chief corporate officer, who the meeting was then told was unavailable to attend, was texting UL delegates during the course of the meeting, as well as attending gatherings with delegates the night before, the morning of, and following after the May 2023 PAC sitting.
Professor Kilcommins outlined that on August 4, 2022, he was approached by UL’s solicitor and told that a document needed to be signed to rubber stamp the project. He said that he was told the contract signing was delegated to him by UL president Professor Kerstin Mey – who did not attend the PAC meeting as she is still on leave on account of health conditions.
“I’m not an authorised signatory. As a chief academic officer, I don’t have that authority to sign. But I was told that it was delegated to me by the president,” Professor Kilcommins told the PAC sitting on Thursday (May 9).
Professor Kilcommins said that the only other person who was authorised to sign the document, apart from Professor Mey, was the Chief Corporate Officer, who “wasn’t available on the day”.
“It was explained to me that it had to be signed that day, because the planning permission was about to run out and the builders wanted to move on to a new project and it had to be signed,” Professor Kilcommins explained.
The deputy president said that when he signed the contract, he did so with the understanding that all due diligence had been completed in relation to the purchase, having been told by UL’s external legal team that it was ready to be “signed as agreed that the full legal due diligence had been completed, and that their construction team had looked at it and that it was appropriate for signing and that the adequate protections were in place”.
UL’s Chief Corporate Officer (CCO) was not present at Thursday’s sitting of the PAC, nor did he appear at a previous PAC meeting in May 2023.
It emerged at this week’s PAC sitting that while the earlier meeting had been told that the CCO could not attend last May due to a “longstanding commitment”, Professor Kilcommins was told a different story.
Professor Kilcommins told the PAC that he was scheduled to speak at the previous sitting about the student records system, and that the CCO asked him if he would also speak on the Rhebogue acquisition.
“The chief corporate officer asked would I also speak on Rhebogue. And I was happy to do so in good faith,” Prof Kilcommins stated.
Prof Kilcommins said that he had been told by the chief corporate officer that, as the executive sponsor of the project, he didn’t want to appear before the PAC as there was an investigation ongoing into the purchase at that time.
He revealed that while the CCO was not available to attend the May 2023 PAC meeting in Dublin, he was present in meetings with UL management members the night before, the morning of, and the period of time after the meeting.
Professor Kilcommins also told the PAC on Thursday that he was of the understanding that the CCO was texting members of the UL delegation during the May meeting, namely the Director of Human Resources.
UL in March admitted that it overpaid for the development of 20 houses approximately three kilometres from the main campus by €5.2million, just months after it admitted a €1.5million overspend on the controversial Dunnes Stores site on Sarsfield Bridge in Limerick City.
