Jun 2, 2017
Paul Cullen
The St John of God organisation made €1.85 million in undisclosed payments to senior managers after being instructed by the Vatican to deal with outstanding liabilities, according to a confidential HSE audit of the charity.
“The Vatican wanted to be sure that no liability transferred to the new organisation” after St John of God restructured itself in 2012, with direct accountability to the Holy See, the audit says. The charity provides a range of services from mental health to learning disability, many on contract from the HSE.
The audit uncovered secret payments totalling €6.24 million to senior lay executives. This includes a defined benefit pension scheme which transferred €3.586 million to four senior managers and unapproved increases in their salaries amounting to €277,152.
Private salary payments
The investigation uncovered undeclared private salary payments to 14 senior staff totalling €528,755 as well as a further 139 cases where the charity was not in compliance with public pay policy.
The audit says St John of God has not complied with public pay policy for over 30 years, despite relying on over €130 million a year in State funding. Since at least 1986, “other entities” within the charity have been supplementing the salary of senior executives, whose pay costs are funded by the Exchequer.
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