16 Apr 2014, 20:20
At its meeting this evening, Wednesday 16th April 2014, the Committee of Public Accounts agreed that it would seek compellability powers to get full accountability for the spending of public monies allocated to Rehab, which in 2013 amounted to €95 million. As a first step, and prior to submitting an application for compellability to the Dáil Committee on Procedures and Privileges, it will provide Rehab, its former employees - including its two former CEOs, Frank Flannery and Angela Kerins - and the public bodies that fund Rehab an opportunity to confirm that each will give information available on the spending of this money in a voluntary capacity.
Chairman of the Committee John McGuinness TD stated that there are too many unanswered questions relating to a wide range of Rehabs activities that are all linked to the €95 million of public monies that go to Rehab from a range of public bodies. These unanswered questions cover a broad range of issues, including corporate governance, consultancies, pay and pensions that are linked back to the way public monies were handled or spent.
Deputy McGuinness said: “Public accountability demands that we get answers in terms of how that money was used every year and we may need compellability powers in order to get full answers. It was clear, for example, from our meeting of 27th February that the HSE had information which it was prepared to give to the Committee provided it was compelled to do so. We now need to establish, in respect of each public body, the level of information each has and the extent to which they can disclose that information in a voluntary capacity.
“Likewise we need to provide an opportunity to those persons connected with Rehab, including the board and senior executives of Rehab, who have the answers to questions that were raised at our meetings of 27th January and 10th April, to volunteer to come before the Committee and give information and, if they cannot so provide the information that will answer all the questions, we will have no choice but to seek to compel those answers.
“The Committee will be writing to all parties tomorrow in relation to this matter and will review the position at its next meeting on Thursday 1st May, 2014 when it also finalise a draft of the application for compellability that will be prepared in the meantime.”
Ends
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Committee of Public Accounts Membership
John McGuinness (Chairman)
Kieran O’Donnell (Vice Chairman)
Paul J Connaughton,
John Deasy,
Áine Collins
Gerald Nash,
Simon Harris,
Robert Dowds,
Mary Lou McDonald,
Sean Fleming,
Eoghan Murphy,
Derek Nolan,
Shane Ross.