Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I understand those concerns. In the preparation of this matter I supplied the details of this to the Government. I take this opportunity, for the avoidance of doubt, that it does not matter to me what organisation is involved but it is the principle when it comes to using almost €750,000 in taxpayers' money over a period of years. It is of no concern to me what organisation is involved, what it does or what it stands for. It is the principle of how taxpayers' money is disbursed that is my only concern in bringing this matter before the House. What I have said so far is on the public record.

In January this year this group filed accounts for 2018 at the Companies Registration Office, CRO, and as I understand it this was almost two years beyond the point where they were due to be filed. The accounts for 2019, due to be filed with the CRO in early 2020, are still outstanding, and the accounts for 2020, due to be filed with the CRO earlier this year, are still outstanding. These filings are a matter of public record at the CRO, and despite apparently failing to file audited accounts for 2018, 2019 or 2020, this organisation received €326,000 from the HSE in 2019 and €180,000 in 202. Moreover, it has been given a commitment to get €230,000 in 2021. Is it not extraordinary that a group three years behind in filing audited accounts continues to receive funding like this?

For the benefit of the Senators who represent political parties, I point out the following by way of contrast. Section 40 of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 introduced a requirement that political parties would receive no Exchequer funding in any calendar year unless audited accounts for the previous year had been submitted and signed off by the Standards in Public Office Commission. In other words, if a political party did what this group has done, it would not have got a single penny for 2019, 2020 or 2021. This organisation has had nearly €750,000 doled out to it by the HSE in that time. To put that in perspective, it is nearly double what the Labour Party got in Exchequer funding last year and this year.

I am not for a moment suggesting this organisation or any person in its management has committed any wrongdoing. I stress here again that my position here is that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. However, one of the reasons we provide funding in the first place is so these organisations can pay to put adequate systems of accounting and financial controls in place.This seems to me to be totally unacceptable and I look forward to the Minister of State's response.