Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 17 December 2020

Public Accounts Committee

Caranua: Financial Statements 2019

11:30 am

Ms Catherine Hynes:

The Deputy has raised a very interesting issue. In looking back over the history of Caranua, when the organisation was first set up, it was set up possibly without being staffed comprehensively and the rest of it. Possibly the limit of €15,000 should have been applied from the start. There are an awful lot of learnings to be had from Caranua's existence. I would like to reiterate what Ms Downes said in that it provided a very good service for an awful lot of people and spent a lot of money to provide services for people.

The Deputy's points are very interesting, but we have not gone through a formal evaluation of what could have gone better and what we should do if another organisation similar to Caranua was ever set up in the future. Certainly, it is food for thought.