Improve oversight of Peter McVerry Trust funding - C&AG

The State's spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), has found that financial controls have not operated as expected at the Department of Housing in respect of funding for the homelessness charity The Peter McVerry Trust.

In its latest report on the Accounts of the Public Services, the C&AG examined funding provided by the Department to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) for The Peter McVerry Trust.

The report found that the Department's key controls in respect of the funding comprises of the DRHE submission to the Department of quarterly financial reports, which it reviews, and random spot checking of invoices submitted for payment.

"However, these controls have not operated as expected," the report found.

One spot check was initiated by the Department on expenditure by The Peter McVerry Trust in the first quarter of 2022, but the DRHE explained to the Department that the invoice spot check could not be carried out in that quarter.

"The Department considered checking invoices in the following quarter, but did not do so," the report found.

The C&AG is recommending that the protocol arrangement between the Department and Dublin City Council should be strengthened in relation to the Department's oversight of the grant funding provided.

The report found that when it comes to conditions attached to exceptional funding, the Department has placed reliance on the monthly progress reports from the Peter McVerry Trust, containing confirmations of ongoing compliance with a number of conditions and progress updates on others.

"The Department should, where possible, seek relevant evidence of the Trust's compliance with all current funding conditions," the report found.

"Any further exceptional funding provided to the Trust should have conditions capable of verification by the Department and clearly laid out monitoring requirements," the C&AG said.

The Department said it agreed with the assessment and added that an oversight group will continue to monitor all actions relating to the conditions attached to the funding and follow up accordingly.

The report notes that in the period 2019 to 2022, the Peter McVerry Trust received a total of just over €140m from State sources to support its service provision.

"State-sourced funding represented between 53% and 72% of the Trust's total income each year over that period," the report states.