Alleged fraud uncovered during audit of fund for survivors of institutional abuse

An audit of payments made from a fund for survivors of abuse in religious institutions has found weaknesses in financial controls including a lack of documentation regarding some awards and an alleged fraud it was subjected to.

Caranua, the independent body established to manage a €110 million fund to improve the lives of survivors, began to wind down its operations last year.

A number of separate accounts and reports regarding it have been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, with one showing that the appeals body attached to Caranua raised concerns about a claim from a survivor being unilaterally closed down.

Audits of the 2014 to 2019 financial statements found “weaknesses in internal control where the board’s procedures were not always followed in respect of payments to survivors,” one financial report states.

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A number of issues were uncovered including that in cases where post payment invoices and receipts were required to be presented to the board of the fund, such documentation had not been presented in 38 per cent of cases sampled by audit last year.

For certain types of housing claims, proof of tenancy or ownership had to be presented by an applicant. However, a sample of payments from last year selected for testing during an audit did not have proof of ownership or tenancy in 6 per cent of cases.

The audit also examined the quotes presented to the board prior to payments being made last year. The sample found that while there was evidence of one or more quotes with every funding support payment made, in 12 per cent of the cases sampled the required number of quotes had not been presented.

It was noted how the board was subject an alleged fraud which came to light last August and has since been referred An Garda Síochána.

Separate report

“Caranua made an advance payment of €11,481 to a hospital in Northern Ireland on foot of an application to fund surgery which was arranged through the HSE Cross Border Directive,” the report says.

“Following the surgery the individual submitted a claim to the HSE who refunded monies to the individual in August 2019. The monies should then have been paid to Caranua. However, this did not happen. The matter has been referred to the gardaí.”

Issues around appeals were also found in a separate report lodged by the appeals officer and put before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Between May 2019 and last February there were 186 appeals received about applications made by survivors. In one of the cases the appeals officer said they wanted to express concern.

The remodelling of a property had been proposed but the case was referred back in order to establish ownership of the property concerned and the intention of the applicant to live there permanently.

According to the report, the applicant should have been given a chance to “make their case fully to the Appeals Officer and for the Appeals Officer to ultimately decide the appeal in accordance with the legislation”.

“I remain strongly of the view that Caranua should not and did not have the right to unilaterally close down the appeal and the application as they did,” the officer said.

By the end of last year Caranua had received 62,170 applications overall and had spent approximately €97.4 million in supports to applicants. Administrative costs were some €13.5 million, resulting in a total expenditure of €110.9 million.

The Government is currently developing a separate compensation scheme for former residents of mother and baby homes. It has asked religious organisations involved in the homes to consider making a financial contribution to the costs.