Waterford Council reported a Winterval service provider to the Gardaí, according to last year’s Auditor’s Report.
The significant matter was raised at the January Plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council by Independent Councillor Donal Barry.
According to Cllr Barry, the 2025 Auditor’s Report, which reviews the financial health and practices of Waterford City and County Council, raised a number of concerns around the financial management of Winterval, including one incident which resulted in a service provider being referred to the Gardaí.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr. Barry said: “Could we have a brief on what issues were so serious in regard to Winterval that they had to be reported to An Garda Siochána?”
“Were any of the issues substantiated, even if no criminal action was pursued? Has there been any analysis done on any of the issues raised in previous years?”
In response, an executive from the council’s Economic Development section said: “With regard to the report to An Garda Siochána, the matter came to the attention of the Executive after conducting an exercise known as financial dealings in terms of income and expenditure last year. There was an issue in terms of a delayed lodgement of funding to Waterford City and County Council which we did bring to the attention of the Gardaí”.
“The Gardaí found that it didn’t meet the threshold of a crime, and they have since closed the investigation,” said the council executive.
“Are we confident that there haven’t been previous instances? We are confident in the investigations and exercises that we would have conducted earlier last year and in 2025,” she said.
“The overspend in 2025 was largely due to the accrual process where invoices that pertained to the 2024 festival were actually brought forward into 2025 and weren’t accrued, where those invoices should have been apportioned back to the 2024 festival, but were actually taken out of the 2025 budget,” she said.
“We are just completing a post event review for Winterval 2025, we are meeting the committee next week and we should have that post event report for Winterval 2025. All indications at this point in time are that Winterval 2025 was in budget.”
Following the meeting The Munster Express spoke with Councillor Barry to see if he feels the matter has been adequately addressed.
“Questions remain over the stewardship of public funds,” Cllr. Barry replied. “The Winterval Festival 2024 ran almost half a million euro over budget according to the Auditor’s Report of December 2025,” he said.
“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 a referral to An Garda Síochána. These findings raise ‘profound concerns’ about how public money was managed and monitored,” Cllr. Barry said.
“While it has been stated that Gardaí are not recommending further action, no written confirmation has been provided to councillors, no detail has been offered on what was investigated.
“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 time when Waterford householders have their Local Property Tax increased by 15% and Local Authority tenants facing rent increases.
“Taxpayers are entitled to clear answers and firm protections,” he added.
Waterford City and County Council were contacted by The Munster Express in relation to the issue and they responded with the following statement: “Winterval continues to make a significant contribution to the local community and the regional economy. It has grown to become a leading Christmas Festival in Ireland and has received several national and international accolades in recent years, including the European City of Christmas 2024 and 2025”.
“Following a post-project review, prompted by a significant overspend in 2024, a series of measures are being implemented to strengthen operational oversight and financial controls, as outlined in the Local Government Audit Report 2024,” said the council spokesperson.
“In addition, an irregular income and expenditure transaction relating to a single service provider was identified as part of the review. In line with good governance, this matter was reported to An Garda Síochána. An Garda Síochána has since concluded their investigation and have confirmed that no further action is recommended.
“Waterford City and County Council remains committed to ensuring that Winterval is a well-managed and highly acclaimed event for Waterford and surrounding region,” the council spokesperson added.
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting scheme
