The alleged transfer of more than €1.5 million of taxpayers’ money from an Irish autism charity to its UK parent charity could be a “breach” of the Companies Act and “possibly a criminal offence”, it is claimed in internal correspondence within the charity.
It emerged earlier this week the Health Service Executive (HSE) has begun a review into the governance and finances of Autism Initiatives Ireland, which has this year rebranded to Autism a Chara.
The charity, which provides specialist care to autistic adults, did not answer questions from The Irish Times about the allegations of possible criminality, but said the HSE had previously examined these allegations and claimed “there was no impropriety to find”.
In 2019, an Irish charity official wrote to the parent group raising “serious concerns” about financial governance at the charity and making allegations about its finances.
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According to the letter, seen by The Irish Times, the official claimed a total of €1,522,778 was transferred from the Irish organisation’s cash reserves to entities outside the State over a four-year period.
The official alleged the money was transferred in three ways.
The first allegation was that the Northern Ireland branch of the charity issued a “recharge for services rendered”, which the official claimed totalled €973,400.
The second allegation was that upon the sale of a property by the Irish charity in 2018, the UK organisation allegedly applied a €200,000 charge to the sale proceeds.
“This charge was referred to as a ‘historical management charge’ but has never been properly itemised or broken down. Nor has the charge, to my knowledge, been approved by the board of directors,” the official’s letter alleged.
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The third allegation related to a “current annual recharge” from the UK arm for services rendered.
However, the official claimed the “difficulty arises” because allegedly “no services were requested ... or approved” and “very few services were provided or supports put in place”.
The official claimed they were “deeply concerned” these alleged practices could represent “a breach of the legal requirements imposed by the Companies Act 2014, a breach of AI Ireland’s duty as a registered charity and possibly a criminal offence”.
“I am also concerned that use of our funds in this manner is contrary to our contractual obligations pursuant to our service agreement with the HSE,” the official alleged.
In a statement, Autism a Chara said it had not heard from the HSE and “are surprised to learn that they are commencing a review”.
“They previously investigated the same set of allegations, from the same source, and the claims were not substantiated. Corporate recharging, for services provided to us by the wider organisation in UK, has been in place for many years,” the statement said.
“We recognise the significant benefit we have received over that time from the centralised support, which included expertise and input from a wide range of departments to complement our local infrastructure.”
It added: “The HSE has been well aware of this arrangement. We reiterate that there was no impropriety established by [the] HSE as there was no impropriety to find. We have always been open and transparent with the HSE and they can be assured of our continued full co-operation in all matters.”
In a briefing note to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, the HSE said, in response to queries raised about the allegations by the committee, that it “did not approve, nor was it notified in advance or retrospectively” of any transfer of HSE funding or assets by the charity to UK-based or other external entities.
The health service said the charity was a section 39 organisation and was “subject to contractual, financial and governance oversight, including submission of audited annual financial statements and annual financial management returns”.
