Creche companies led by Deirdre and Padraig Kelly record bumper 2017

The north Dublin couple whose crèche business was at the centre of an RTÉ investigation alleging mistreatment of children enjoyed a bumper year last year.

This follows two new sets of accounts from creche companies led by Deirdre and Padraig Kelly from Malahide showing that their companies recorded combined profits of €855,084 last year.

Showing that the two have firmly put the RTÉ controversy and its fall out behind them as they oversee the expansion of their business, the combined cash pile at the two creche companies more than tripled last year going from €386,744 to €1.265 million.

Underlining the buoyant year enjoyed by the Kelly creche business, numbers employed at the two firms increased from 173 to 190.

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New accounts filed by the Kellys' main firm, Links Creche and Montesorri Ltd show that accumulated profits at the company last year jumped from €449,643 to €969,215 - a profit jump of €519,572.

In 2013, the Links Abington creche in Malahide was the subject of an RTÉ 'Breach of Trust' documentary.

In 2015, the company that operates the crèche, Links crèche & Montessori Ltd was fined €1,000 at Dublin District Court after pleading guilty to eight charges pertaining to incidents which occurred on eight different dates across February and March in 2013.

In 2016, at the High Court, settlements totalling more than €1 million were approved for 22 children in cases arising out of the RTÉ documentary. The settlements were without admission of liability.

The 22 children had sued Links Creche and Montessori Ltd, with offices in Rathmines, Dublin and sister firm, Links crèche Southside Ltd, Kinsealy, Dublin, along with the crèche owners Deirdre and Padraig Kelly over alleged mistreatment at the Links Abington facility.

The defendants had filed a full defence and denied the incidents recorded in the footage were representative of the level of care throughout the crèche.

The website for the business today includes testimonials from parents of children attending the crèches with the parents expressing their satisfaction for the work being done by staff and the care and attention being shown to their children.

Now, the new accounts for Links Creche and Montessori Ltd for the year to the end of October last show that during a very lucrative 12 months, the company’s cash pile more than doubled going from €279,687 to €685,286.

The company’s two directors, Deirdre and Padraig Kelly paid themselves an aggregate €175,000 last year and this followed an aggregate €175,000 to the two in 2016.

Underlining the expanded service provided by the company in 2017, numbers employed increased from 129 to 137 with staff costs increasing from €2.44 million to €2.76 million.

Separate accounts lodged by sister firm where Deirdre and Padraig Kelly are directors, Links crèche Southside Ltd show that its accumulated profits increased by €337,512 from €116,178 to €453,690.

During the same period, the company’s cash pile went up by €543,308 from €107,372 to €650,680 and numbers employed increased from 44 to 53 with staff costs of €1.05 million.

During the last 14 year period, the business has grown rapidly with crèches at the upmarket Abington in Malahide along with crèches at Balbriggan, Citywest, Clonee, Blackrock, Portmarnock (2), Dromcondra, Clontarf and Kinsealy.

In the High Court settlements approved in 2016, the payouts of between €40,000 and €75,000 each were approved for the children, some of whom featured in the footage shown in the ‘Breach of Trust’ documentary in May 2013 about the Links Abington crèche in Malahide.

The crèche business did not respond to a request for comment.