Direct-provision-centre firm Aramark donated €30,000 towards the cost of a staff Christmas party for the operator of the three children’s hospitals in Dublin, it has emerged.
Last week, Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy told the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee the payment was made in 2022.
He said the board of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) directed that the money be given back to the donor after his staff raised queries as part of the audit of the group’s 2024 accounts.
In response to questions from Pádraig Rice, chairman of the Oireachtas Health Committee, Lucy Nugent, chief executive of CHI, confirmed Aramark was the contractor.
READ MORE
She said Aramark had not been given a contract in the new national children’s hospital in Dublin.
“CHI should not have accepted that donation, it was wrong,” Nugent told the committee on Wednesday.
Asked what had changed since 2022, Nugent said “we don’t have a large Christmas party any more”.
“It was recorded in our CHI accounts ledger as deferred income. It was received but it wasn’t actually used,” she said.
“It should have turned up in reconciliation of our accounts. It was highlighted to us last year by the Comptroller and Auditor General. As soon as it was brought to my attention, I raised it with the audit and risk committee and the board of the hospital and we felt the most prudent action was to return it to the supplier, which we did.”
Nugent added that CHI’s new chief financial officer was investigating why the funds were not identified before the audit by the C&AG.
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee last week, McCarthy said his office had identified an account controlled by CHI that contained “an unmoving substantial sum”.
“We queried what was the nature of that [account] and the explanation that was provided then gave rise to concerns; first of all, in relation to the event itself, which should have been disclosed in the governance statement and then, secondly, the propriety of accepting contributions from a concession holder,” he said.
On Thursday the Comptroller told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee that €30,000 payment had been lodged to the general bank account of CHI.
He said the money had been accounted for as deferred income by CHI in 2022 and 2023 and when queried the board of the hospital operator had concluded it should returned to the concession holder
The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee John Brady of Sinn Féin said it had been decided to write to CHI in advance of the group’s appearance before it in a couple of weeks.
He said there were “serious questions” about what procurement process, if any, had been underway at CHI at the time.
“We need a full line of sight”.
The Comptroller said he was not aware that there was a live procurement process on-going at the time.
Aramark is a food services company that operates food chain Avoca as well as Knockalisheen direct-provision centre in Co Clare.
It provides food services to hospitals, universities and others businesses.
Consolidated accounts filed recently for Aramark Ireland Holdings – a holding company in the US food services and facilities management outfit’s Irish group – showed revenues for the year ending September 27th, 2024 increased 16 per cent to €359.8 million.
Its gross profit for that year increased by 12 per cent to €75.7 million.
A spokeswoman for Aramark said: “This is an internal accounting matter for CHI. As such, it would be more appropriate for CHI to address any questions in relation to it.”
