Charities Regulator to write to Peter McVerry Trust

The Charities Regulator is to write to the Peter McVerry Trust on foot of a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG).

The regulator published its own report into the charity this week, and which was carried out by independent inspectors.

Madeleine Delaney told the Committee of Public Accounts that she would be writing to the trust in the coming days on a number of matters, including the need to provide receipts for donations.

This relates to the charity being able to clearly track donations rather than providing physical receipts to donors, she noted.

The C&AG made a number of recommendations, including that the regulator engage with the charity.

"We will be following up with the charity trustees now that we have the inspector's report, and this will be one of the matters that we will be following up with them," Ms Delaney said.

Asked when this would be done, Ms Delaney told Independent TD Verona Murphy: "We will be writing to them Friday - Monday," before adding, "it's imminent "

Ms Delaney said she had first became aware of the problems at the Peter Mcverry Trust in July 2023 when the regulator had received a letter from a former chief executive of the charity.

"Chief executive 'number two'," Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe clarified.

She added that when issues are "not externally apparent", the regulator is "reliant to a large degree on receiving reports and information from third parties".

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy asked if the support of public bodies for the trust had reassured her.

Ms Delaney said that the regulator would have had "less of a concern about the assets and the services than we would have had if there wasn't a funder like the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive in there".

"You really are scratching around in the dark," Deputy Murphy said.

"You've hit on the important point of information there," Ms Delaney replied.

"We are on the back, more so" than equivalent agencies in the UK, she added.