‘Questions remain’ after Waterford festival’s financial issues reported to Gardaí

“Questions remain” after a Waterford festival’s financial issues were reported to An Garda Síochána, a local councillor has said.

An audit report published in December found that Waterford City and County Council reported an issue related to Winterval 2024 to the gardaí.

It also found that the festival had run over budget by almost half a million euro.

Independent councillor Donal Barry raised concerns over the report at the council’s January plenary meeting.

Cllr Barry: “Could we have a brief on what issue was so serious with regards Winterval 2024 that it had to be reported to An Garda Síochána?

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“Were any of the issues substantiated, given that no criminal action was pursued and had there been any analysis done on whether any of the issues already happened in previous years?”

He concluded by calling on such an analysis to be undertaken so that confidence can be maintained in public expenditure.

In response to Cllr Barry, Acting Director of Services Claire Hartley said that the issue reported to the gardaí related to a delay with funding being lodged.

Ms Hartley stated: “The matter came to the attention of the executive in conducting financial dealings in terms of the expenditure last year.

“There was an issue in terms of the delayed lodgement of funding to Waterford City and County Council, which we did bring to the attention of the gardaí.

“The gardaí felt that it didn’t meet the threshold of a crime and have since closed the investigation into the matter.”

She added that the council is confident that no similar incidents have occurred in previous years. She went on to explain the overspend that can be found in the auditor’s report.

Ms Hartley said: “The overspend in 2025 was largely due to the approval process where invoices that pertained to the 2024 festival were actually brought forward into 2025 and weren’t approved.

“The financial and accounting procedures where those invoices should have been brought back to the 2024 budget were actually taken out of the 2025 budget.”

She continued by saying that the council is in the process of conducting a post-event review of Winterval 2025.

She said that while festivals like Winterval may incur more expenses than in previous years, these festivals are also bringing in more money than before.

Cllr Barry has said that questions remain over Winterval 2024 in the aftermath of the council meeting.

Speaking to WaterfordLive, he stated: “Councillors approved a budget of €339,000. The final net cost to taxpayers was €824,000.

“This was not a minor overspend; it appears to be a fundamental breakdown in financial control and oversight.

“An auditor’s review has identified incorrect accounting entries, weak cash handling, inadequate management oversight, uncontrolled contractor costs, inflated payroll and overtime, and governance failures serious enough to warrant referral to An Garda Síochána.

“These findings raise profound concerns about how public money was managed and monitored.”

Cllr Barry protested that councillors have received no written confirmation that the gardaí did not recommend further action and that no details have been provided on what was investigated.

He continued: “The response from management has focused on administrative measures such as meetings and purchase orders. These are routine processes.

“We need guarantees that it cannot happen again at a time when Waterford householders have their local property tax increased by 15 percent and local authority tenants facing rent increases.”

“Taxpayers are entitled to clear answers and firm protections,” he concluded.