Reilly warns Rehab funding may be at risk if chief's salary is not disclosed

Minister for Health James Reilly has suggested that future State funding for Rehab could be at stake if the organisation does not disclose the salary paid to its chief executive. The disability organisation, which received more than €80 million in taxpayers' money last year, is embroiled in controversy over salary levels and low profit margins from its State-subsidised lottery arm.

Dr Reilly told reporters in Dublin yesterday that the salary of Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins should be revealed in advance of the organisation's board meeting, which is due to discuss the matter in a month. He also said a failure to reveal these details meant "our relationship with them as it currently stands would come into question".

When pressed on whether that could result in a cut in funding, Dr Reilly replied: “I would have thought that that would form part of the fundamental relationship.”

Despite these calls, it has emerged that the Health Service Executive – which provides the bulk of State funding to Rehab – has never formally sought the salary level of Ms Kerins. Last year, the HSE sought and received salary details of senior management at two subsidiaries of Rehab, namely Rehab Care and the National Learning Network.

However, it does not have a contractual relationship with the overall holding company of which Ms Kerin's is chief executive, Rehab Group.

A Rehab spokesman said that while it received correspondence from the HSE in December stating that pay levels across the wider company should have “due regard” to public sector pay levels, it did not seek Ms Kerins’s salary.

The controversy arose earlier this week when Minister for Justice Alan Shatter released details of an audit of Rehab Lotteries by his department in 2012 and questioned the "costly" legal action the group had taken against the State. The audit showed that gross lottery sales in 2010 of almost €7.2 million yielded a net profit of €550,000, or 8 per cent. Similarly, a Rehab Group scratch card product with sales of almost €4 million produced a profit of less than €9,500 in 2010, he told the Dáil.

Rehab rejected Mr Shatter's remarks, saying he had abused his position, provided misleading information and seriously undermined the judicial process. The group said it could not respond in detail as the matters were before the courts. The row comes as political scrutiny of the charity sector deepens in the wake of disclosures about the Central Remedial Clinic.

Yesterday, Mr Shatter – who recently fast-tracked the establishment of a charity regulator – announced he was seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified people to join the new organisation’s board.

Board members will receive fees of almost €6,000 per annum and the chair will receive fees of almost €9,000. Travel and subsistence expenses will be payable for meetings.