James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I acknowledge that. I am just referring to what Mr. Doherty said. He said:

As the conversation progressed, my recollection is that he advised that, in actual fact, the money was being made available in order that that organisation would have funds to pay his salary when he moved there.

That sounds like the “Father Ted” episode with the line “That money was just resting in my account”. Mr. O’Brien said the moneys were returned very quickly. They would not have been returned but for Mr. Doherty’s intervention. The Charities Regulator clarified that it is stated in the inspector’s report that the moneys were returned in advance of the regulator and AHBRA getting involved. Is that the end of the matter? I find quite frightening the allegation that moneys donated by the Capuchin Day Centre for an explicit purpose were somehow transferred out of the bank account and put into the bank account of another entity, which, as Mr. O’Brien has acknowledged, is an innocent party in all this and appears not to know anything. I acknowledge that this is a bit of a “Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi” situation, but what can Mr. O’Brien say in relation to all of this?