How rules to rein in its finances were avoided
NOVEMBER 2013
Fourteen senior managers are secretly paid additional salaries and top-ups at a cost of more than €2m at St John of God Community Services. the payments – forbidden by HSE rules on pay – are not disclosed in any public accounts or declared to the HSE.
2013-2016
TO continue getting HSE money, St John of God signs inaccurate statements saying the group is in compliance with HSE pay rules.
JULY 2016
the Irish Mail on Sunday, with the help of a whistleblower, reveals details of the 2013 topups. the HSE launches an investigation. In the wake of the scandal, then Ceo John Pepper and other officials depart.
JULY 2017
A SCATHING HSE audit accuses St John of God (SJOG) of a lack of candour. ‘SJOG had many opportunities to make a full disclosure of its non-compliance with Public Pay Policy but did not do so until June 2016 when the compensation payments were exposed by a whistle-blower and the Mail on Sunday,’ the audit reads. ‘The multiple examples of lack of candour identified by this audit raise fundamental issues of trust between SJOG and the HSE.’
2017-2019
THE HSE engages with St John of God to improve its governance structures. the St John of God group, which once contributed millions yearly from its fundraising, virtually ceases cash contributions to community services.
SEPTEMBER 2020
ST John of God serves notice that it will discontinue its HSE services, ‘due to a protracted and unresolved systemic underfunding crisis that had undermined the organisation for over a decade’. The HSE stands back from the brink and provides additional funding to St John of God. The order does not resume its previous level of funding to its HSE operations.
2021-2023
the deficit at St John of God continues to grow as discussions continue with the HSE. Inconsistencies are discovered in the way accruals are handled in accounts. the charity operates for a time without an internal auditor. Meanwhile, the SJoG group’s funding of its HSE operations remains minuscule compared to pre-2016 levels.
FEBRUARY 2024
ST John of God serves a second notice of its intention to pull out of providing HSE services. The Government and the HSE scramble to prevent this from happening and, within days, a deal is done.