COVID-19 voucher scheme mess leaves NAO audit inconclusive

The National Audit Office could not conclude its probe into the first round of COVID-19 vouchers, which cost the government €45 million, because data was missing or incomplete.

The NAO’s own attempt to reconcile the vouchers issued with those redeemed proved “futile”, a new report, published Monday, has revealed.

The office said it had encountered “significant problems” when it was auditing the voucher scheme, which was intended to boost economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The vouchers were launched in June 2020. Every resident was sent five €20 vouchers by registered post, four of them to be used in hotels, restaurants and bars, and the other in shops and services such as hair and beauty salons and sports clubs.

Initially, the vouchers’ expiration date was September 30 but it was extended to October 31.

However, the NAO found that payments to merchants for redeemed vouchers continued to be made until at least March of this year.

Audit is inconclusive 

The NAO said its audit of the scheme was inconclusive, primarily because of incomplete data on the number of vouchers issued and redeemed, and also because of the processing of payments to merchants long after the...