Four members of the Northern Ireland Water Board have been sacked by Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy after an investigation into lucrative contracts.
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Chris Mellor, Declan Gormley, Ruth Thompson and John Ballard were dismissed after an internal inquiry found major contracts were awarded without competitive tendering.
The chairman and three non-executive directors on the board were informed of their dismissal in a letter signed by Regional Development minister Conor Murphy.
"I have taken this step after a great deal of consideration of all the evidence", Mr Murphy said on Friday.
"The findings of the report stated that there had been a serious breakdown in the governance and control framework of Northern Ireland Water in relation to contract approvals".
UTV understands there is no suggestion of fraud but the breaches were serious enough to prompt Mr Murphy to take action.
The discrepancy was spotted by NI Water Chief executive Laurence Makenzie not long after he was appointed in August 2009.
"I think there was a culture in here of let's get the job done, let's not worry about the process", he told UTV.
"My commitment to ensuring that appropriate financial controls are in place within NI Water is absolute".
Controversies
Northern Ireland Water was formed in 2007 as a semi-public body borne out of the then water service.
But concerns over its financial dealings have dogged the organisation.
It emerged last year that NI Water had overcharged thousands of non-domestic customers, some by as much as £4,000.
In September 2009, the utility regulator found NI Water was half as efficient at delivering services than other UK water providers.
NI Water was then ordered to shave £136m off its running costs for the following three years.
Chairman Chris Mellor earned £40,000 a year for three to four days work a month. Declan Gormley, Ruth Thompson and John Ballard were each paid £18,000 a year for two days work a month.
The Consumer Council has welcomed Mr Murphy's immediate action at Board level.
"Consumers will be demanding answers and have the right to know the financial implications of this mismanagement. They need to know that they are getting the best possible value for their money and the reality is now they don't know," Chief Executive Antoinette McKeown said.
The DUP Deputy chair of the regional development committee, Michelle Mcilveen, said the public should have confidence in how that money is spent.
"The award of contracts needs to be clear, transparent and above all fair," she said.
SDLP Regional Development spokesperson Tommy Gallagher said the four sackings raised the issue of governance in government-owned companies.
Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn, who sits on the Assembly Public Accounts Committee, also expressed shock at the findings of the report into contract practices at NI Water.
"The public deserve transparency and clarity on what their money is being spent on," he said.
The company, which is responsible for providing water and sewage supplies across Northern Ireland, is set for a further independent investigation to identify who was directly responsible for the controversial decisions.
© UTV News