This community based company is supported by funding from a variety of sources to provide a range of shared and specialised services to other community and voluntary bodies. The Department of Social Protection supports service provision under the Community Services Programme and the company acts as a scheme sponsors for the Community Employment Programme.
The Department has not conducted an audit of the company and has not identified any irregularities in the operation of the company with respect to its management of the community employment scheme or of the funds granted to it under the community services programme. The contract with the Community Services Programme is managed by Pobal on behalf of the Department.
As indicated in my reply to a previous question on this matter, the Department has engaged with the company, as it does with all sponsor bodies and companies, to ensure that appropriate practices are in place to manage the public funds granted as part of regular monitoring and verification processes. Where infractions of the rules and guidelines of the various schemes and programmes are identified, these are taken to the attention of the Board for appropriate attention. The annual financial statements and audit reports for the company are available through the Companies Registration Office in line with statutory requirements.
The Deputy will appreciate that it is a matter for the Board and Management of the company in the first instance to set the priorities for the company and to manage the resources available to it to meet it objectives and to provide the services it offers. The Department is aware that the company has had to offer redundancies in recent years in response to declines in demand as a result of changes in economic and business conditions, the need for the company to move to a more sustainable level of operations, and to address its cost base. This has resulted in curtailments of opening times and other changes in service delivery to produce economies. Responsibility for employees in the company rests with the Board of Directors and such responsibilities remain undiminished because funding is provided by the Department and other funders.
