State spending watchdog probes ‘champagne party’ team’s €4,500 novelty socks splurge

  24th February 2022

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is set to investigate spending on Ireland’s UN Security Council campaign after it emerged €125,000 was used to buy branded merchandise, including 950 pairs of novelty socks.

The State’s spending watchdog will also examine claims public procurement rules were broken in relation to purchases that included nearly €35,000 on custom notebooks, €8,281 on 650 branded reusable coffee cups, and €5,650 on 200 wooden pens.

It will also investigate discrepancies between expenditure figures released by the Department of Foreign Affairs under Freedom of Information laws in 2020, and conflicting information contained in invoices and payment records obtained last week.

On Tuesday, the C&AG received a complaint from Senator Gerard Craughwell, who is a member of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, expressing concern in relation to the expenditure and alleging public procurement rules had been broken.

It came after it emerged more than €4,500 had been spent on novelty socks as part of Ireland’s successful campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Other spending on campaign merchandise included €6,113 on 700 personalised power banks, €7,000 on lapel pins that kept “spinning”, €2,894 on umbrellas, and €727 on printed materials including a “selfie cut-out”.

There was no evidence of formal tendering procedures or compliance with public procurement rules contained in records released under Freedom of Information laws, with the exception of one small purchase of gift bags in Geneva, Switzerland.