Gardaí have deepened their criminal investigation into the Peter McVerry Trust (PMVT), seizing items of “evidential value” in five searches last week.
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau has separately made “direct contact” with the housing and homeless charity in recent days.
The office, formerly known as the Garda fraud bureau, started the investigation in September after a lengthy evaluation of McVerry Trust affairs that was ongoing for more than six months. Members of the Corporate Enforcement Authority, the State’s corporate watchdog, have joined the inquiry.
“As part of an ongoing investigation into a body in the housing sector, gardaí from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau conducted searches at five premises in Dublin, Kildare and Tipperary on Friday, December 12th, 2025,” said a Garda statement.
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“Gardaí were assisted by members from the Corporate Enforcement Agency during this operation. A number of items of evidential value were seized during these searches.”
The premises searched were not identified. However, it is understood PMVT’s office was not searched by officers.
“No arrests have been made at this time. Investigations are ongoing,” the Garda statement added.
The trust, established in the 1980s by Jesuit priest Fr Peter McVerry, is one of Ireland’s best-known charities, providing affordable housing and services to thousands of tenants and homeless people.
The organisation was hit by financial troubles two years ago, which led to a €15 million government lifeline to rescue it from potential collapse.
PMVT said in October that solicitors Mason Hayes & Curran made a confidential disclosure on its behalf to gardaí “in relation to invoices issued by a contractor”.
That disclosure was made in June under section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act, which prohibits the withholding of information that might assist in a prosecution or conviction.
Although PMVT previously said An Garda Síochána “has not made any direct contact with Peter McVerry Trust”, the situation changed after the searches last Friday.
In a statement by the trust, issued after the Garda statement, PMVT reiterated that its disclosure to the force of invoice-related matters was made “as a prudent and precautionary measure” in light of information with potential legal implications.
“We can also confirm that earlier this week the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau was in direct contact with the organisation,” PMVT said .
“We are committed to fully cooperating and will provide any information they may require. We welcome this investigation.”
Misgovernance in PMVT and lax financial controls have been criticised in a series of damning reports by housing and charity regulators and the Comptroller and Auditor General, the public spending watchdog.
The trust received €164.3 million in State funding in 2018-2022 and €72.6 million in donations. It is now almost wholly reliant on State money because donations collapsed in the wake of the crisis.
