Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is a deeply concerning report in The Irish Timestoday by Jack Power about the Peter McVerry Trust. It outlines that in 2018 the trust bought nine apartments in Birr, County Offaly, which had been developed by the then auditor of the charity.

This raises very serious and obvious conflict-of-interest concerns. The level of homelessness has exploded under Fianna Fáil's watch by nearly 50% since July 2020. The State will spend over €240 million on homelessness services next year. Vital public services have been outsourced to homelessness charity corporates. What is emerging are serious governance issues in the Peter McVerry Trust. Two investigations are under way, one by the Charities Regulator, another by the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority. I do not expect that the Minister will comment on those but he can answer the following. Will the Government bail out the trust with emergency funding? Has a decision been made on that? How large is the bailout being sought by the trust? Will it be €5 million or more? Importantly, does the Government have concerns about funding or other governance issues in some of the other approved housing bodies?

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