Disability care bodies paying top managers over €176,000
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STATE-funded voluntary organisations that provide disability services have multi-layered management with executives on salaries of over €176,000, it emerged yesterday.
The administration and backroom costs of the 40-plus organisations, which receive over €1bn in funding to provide disability services, are now to come under long-delayed scrutiny as health cuts become more severe next year.
Junior Health Minister John Moloney said an example of the need for reform was the presence of five to six chief executives in the Brothers of Charity organisation .
A spokesman for the body yesterday refused to say how many chief executives it had or what salaries they were on. However, he said the HSE "approved all staffing levels".
It also has several human resource officers in its centres around the country , sparking accusations of duplication of staff in one organisation.
The lack of transparency and accountability in the sector was highlighted in a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General four years ago.
It was reported earlier this year that St Michael's House in Dublin received about €75m in State funding up to October 31, 2009, compared with €90m in 2008. During the same period, the chief executive's total salary package increased from €198,186 to €201,024.
In Cork, Enable Ireland received €33.5m in 2009, a cut from from €39m the previous year. The salary of the chief executive increased from €165,673 in 2008 to €169,093 in 2009. A spokesman for St Michael's House said yesterday the chief executive's salary is now €176,000 after taking the public service pay cut.
The alarm bells were sounded by the Comptroller in his report but reform appears to be slow despite the level of state funding the organisations are being entrusted with to care for these vulnerable groups.
The report found that financial reporting norms were not being followed by several of the providers. In 12 of the 42 bodies examined financial statements were not on file despite getting over €100m in state funding.
It also noted that remuneration packages of senior management of the organisations were not generally disclosed.
The Comptroller said greater transparency in financial reporting would provide assurance that funds were not being absorbed in adminsitrative costs rather than being being applied to frontline services.
A key area highlighted by the watchdog has not been tackled -- the procurement of services. This would mean that if the voluntary bodies consolidated their buying power would be strengthened and they could purchase services at a cheaper price rather than acting individually.
According to the HSE, it has insisted on new service contracts with the the providers it funds to the tune of over €250,000 a year.
Less complex contracts, called Grant Aid Agreements were introduced for agencies receiving funding less than €250,000 a year.
Value
The spokeswoman said the Department of Health initiated a value for money review into disability services which is currently being finalised and to which HSE contributes.
"This review is an examination of disability services in Ireland, either wholly or partly funded by the HSE, including statutory and non-statutory sectors. This will provide a comprehensive analysis of data in relation to all service providers and will include an implementation plan to address the findings and recommendations of the final report.
"The National Quality Standards for Residential Services for Adults with Disabilities (published by HIQA in 2009) set out what a quality, safe service for people with disabilities in a residential service should be. The HSE and service providers have commenced work on the non statutory implementation of HIQA standards for residential centres for adults."
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Irish Independent
