James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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While I accept the point about the operations and that the Department cannot be expected to oversee what is happening on a day-to-day basis, the public might have concern about Mr. Kelly’s point that this was a unique situation. The Peter McVerry Trust was, and hopefully in the future will be again, one of the most trusted brands out there for all the service it has given to support some of the most vulnerable people in Ireland, mostly in Dublin city. There is a concern that we are giving hundreds of millions of euro to other entities and essentially relying on those entities to be sufficiently robust from a governance standpoint. Where is the accountability from the taxpayer point of view? To use one example I am familiar with, the DRHE has some exceptionally hardworking people whose primary motivation is to ensure everyone in Dublin city has a bed to sleep in and that where they are sleeping, whether that is in emergency accommodation or otherwise, is of sufficient and appropriate standard and quality. It gets the money granted from the Department and gives it out. It too relies on the governance structures, etc., of these entities.

This is not the first time governance issues have arisen in homeless charities. Much more serious issues have arisen in other homeless charities. This question may be for the Secretary General. How do we assure the public that the hundreds of millions of euro which are being filtered through these homeless executives down to approved housing bodies or NGO entities are being spent appropriately and correctly and are going where we want them to go to support our most vulnerable?