Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 December 2020
89. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that an organisation (details supplied) had been placed under statutory investigation and were so when awarded funding of €280,000 in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42320/20]
View answerThe organisation in question was awarded a one-year grant of €250,000 under the 2018 Civil Society Fund for their project to improve access to early childcare and education and protection in Ethiopia. As far as my Department is aware, the organisation was not under statutory investigation at the time of the grant award. The Charities Regulatory Authority appointed investigators to carry out a statutory investigation into the organisation on 8 May 2020.
During the course of project implementation, the Department became aware of governance concerns with the organisation. In response, the Department took the decision first to freeze the grant - as was confirmed publicly at the time. Following the Department’s review of the matter with the organisation in question, the Department was satisfied that the small portion of the grant which had been disbursed to the country of operation before the decision to freeze the grant had been spent appropriately. The Department then requested the return of the unspent balance of the grant. The remaining funds in the grant were returned in December 2019. The organisation is no longer a partner of Ireland’s development aid programme.
