NI Housing Executive under pressure to retrieve over payments

The NI Housing Executive (NIHE) is under pressure to retrieve large amounts of taxpayers' money that it overpaid to two contractors between May 2016 and September 2018.

Almost £400,000 was paid for work that was not required during that period.

The so-called ghost gardening was revealed in a report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

Both Sinn Féin and the SDLP have called on the executive to ensure the housing body retrieves the money.

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín said the Housing Executive has "multi-million pound contracts with these companies".

"I would think this would give ample opportunity for a reasonable repayment agreement to be made between the Housing Executive and contractors," she said.

The NIHE has admitted mistakes were made.

The money was paid for work in which land had either been turned into something else, or was no longer owned by the NIHE.

A spokesperson said the Housing Executive's investigation found that "we had not kept some of the information on our land ownership up to date on our IT systems".

It said that there was no fraud on the part the contractors involved and that they are "currently considering recovery options in terms of payments".

"Following on from the investigation, we have addressed each of the issues raised to ensure that this will not occur again," the spokesperson said.

What happened was first highlighted by the Belfast Telegraph earlier this week.

Details of the overpayments were contained in a report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office earlier in the month.

It outlined the results of an investigation by the executive's Counter Fraud and Security Unit (CFSU).

The report stated: "CFSU calculated over the period May 2016 to September 2018 that a total of £377,000 had been overpaid to two grounds maintenance contractors, over and above the total £9.4m which was due to be paid."

According to the report, concerns were first raised by a whistle-blower in May 2015.

One of the contractors was the Direct Labour Organisation, which is part of the NIHE. It was overpaid £97,000.

The other contractor - which received an overpayment of £280,000 - has so far not been named publicly.