The HSE attempted to conceal the fact it was planning to award a State contract to a businessman whose company was embroiled in controversy for “falsifying” Garda background checks of employees working with vulnerable children, records show.
The Irish Times previously revealed Good People Homecare supplied forged paperwork to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, falsely clearing several employees to manage emergency accommodation for children in State care.
Tusla cut ties with the Co Meath company after it discovered criminal background checks of several staff had been doctored. The agency reported the suspected forgeries to the Garda, which opened an investigation.
Good People is run by Gerard Chimbganda, a businessman and evangelical pastor originally from Zimbabwe. An employee of the firm, a young relative of Mr Chimbganda, was in May convicted of forgery and falsifying Garda vetting documentation, receiving a suspended sentence.
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A review, prompted by concerns inside Tusla, flagged “discrepancies” in Garda vetting paperwork supplied for at least 17 employees of Good People in late 2023.
Extensive internal documentation, obtained by The Irish Times, provides new details about the controversy as well as revealing the extent of the company’s work for other public bodies such as the HSE.
Mr Chimbganda was primarily in the business of sourcing agency staff for the health service, providing temporary workers to nursing homes and home care services. An opportunity opened up to expand into a different, more lucrative line of work three years ago.
Tusla was under serious pressure to find accommodation for the number of children who were coming into the care of the State.
There was a major shortage of foster carers and no space in regulated group care homes run by Tusla, private firms or voluntary organisations.
The number of underage asylum seekers arriving into the Republic without guardians, mostly teenagers coming from Ukraine, but also other from parts of the world, had increased significantly as well.
[ Department cuts firm’s Ukraine accommodation contract over Garda vetting controversy ]
In response, Tusla turned to private companies with little track record of working in the care system to run what it called “special emergency arrangements”.
The unregulated placements saw young people put into rented houses or apartments, with care staff from private firms on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Good People started running these emergency arrangements in August 2022.
The work became a huge source of income for the company. Tusla paid Good People a total of €8.1 million to house children in emergency accommodation between 2022 and 2024.
Tusla officials became concerned in late 2023. Internal checks raised alarm, with some Garda vetting documentation supplied by the company supposedly clearing staff to care for young people.
Tusla told gardaí they had concerns a “large number” of these background checks purporting to have been carried out by the Garda were fake or falsified.
Garda vetting, a legal background check for past criminal convictions and other pertinent information, is an important safeguard against children coming into harm’s way when in the care of private companies, public bodies or voluntary organisations.
In an internal report, dated November 21st, 2023, Good People acknowledged “discrepancies” had been uncovered in Garda background clearances supplied for 17 employees.
The report, sent to Tusla and released under the Freedom of Information Act, admitted a “disconcerting revelation of irregularities has come to light”.
Good People said a review of staff files found some lacking key documents from training certificates to updated academic credentials and CVs.
It appeared the surnames some employees provided to gardaí to screen for any criminal history were different from the surname they were known by or the one listed on professional qualifications. Individual reference numbers were “repeated in a number of vetting forms” for multiple staff, the review found.
The firm said it understood these inaccuracies “pose a significant risk to the organisation’s reputation and credibility in safeguarding young people in our care”.
Good People told Tusla they recognised this questioned assurances that staff caring for young people were “competent and safe”.
The report said in some cases legitimate Garda background checks had been completed on employees who it was initially suspected had not been vetted.
The company is owned by Mr Chimbganda, his wife Sibonile Chimbganda, who is also the finance director of the firm, and his sister, Taridzai Kadonzvo, the human resources director.
Good People pleaded with Tusla to recognise efforts it had taken to provide safe accommodation for children in care.
“We are not providers just for the monetary gain but we have put our hearts into making beautiful surroundings and caring teams for young people,” they said, according to the report.
In separate correspondence, Good People told Tusla some staff were asylum seekers with the right to work in the Republic but who did not have access to “police clearance from their country of origin” as they had fled to Ireland in some cases without a passport.
In a further December 2023 note, Good People said 65 employees “were deemed noncompliant and asked to stop work immediately”, which necessitated staff from another company stepping in to run care homes.
The controversy prompted the company to order fresh Garda vetting for all staff. Further checks uncovered details about one employee’s past record, which was deemed concerning enough to stop that person working with vulnerable children.
“The staff member with a serious disclosure has been spoken to about discontinuing their role in working with young people,” Good People said in a December 1st email.
It is understood the incident flagged by gardaí did not relate to any sexual misconduct involving children.
In light of the grave concerns, Tusla cut ties with Mr Chimbganda and Good People. The last young person was moved from accommodation staffed by the company in February last year.
The HSE has continued to rely on Good People to carry out certain work, despite warnings about the company supplying fake vetting certificates.
It previously said its dealings with the company were limited to the firm providing home care services in Co Meath.
However, The Irish Times has established that Good People carried out more extensive work for the health service.
Documents show Tusla warned HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster in early 2024 that Good People had “provided falsified Garda vetting documentation” clearing staff to work.
In a follow-up letter dated January 29th, 2024, David Walsh, HSE national director of community operations, asked each region to report if they used the firm’s services.
Good People routinely provided agency staff to five HSE nursing homes across south Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. It had sourced nurses and healthcare assistants to cover shifts since 2021, the HSE Dublin Midlands said.
Completed Garda vetting paperwork was not on hand for 18 workers Good People had supplied to HSE care homes, it was stated in a February 2nd, 2024, letter.
“Staff members that no Garda vetting disclosure was supplied for were immediately removed,” a senior HSE manager in the region wrote.
Further checks established the number of workers who had not been Garda vetted was smaller at fewer than five people.
A spokeswoman for HSE Dublin Midlands said use of the company was phased out in February 2024 “based on identified anomalies with Garda vetting requirements”.
The Dublin and North-East region continues to rely on Good People to provide home care support packages to patients in Co Meath to this day.
Internal HSE emails show “concerns” about vetting were also flagged by that region.
A spokeswoman said they related to “the validity of staff listings and Garda vetting”.
Following work on a “compliance plan”, Good People were deemed to meet vetting requirements, she said. Local HSE staff were satisfied the company was in “compliance” with governance requirements.
Documents also reveal the HSE was on the cusp of awarding Good People a national contract to supply agency staff across the health service in August this year.
Internal emails show officials scrambled to pause the decision after the HSE was questioned by The Irish Times about any services provided by Good People and about the firm’s past vetting failures.
In an August 19th email, a HSE official told colleagues in its press office the firm had been due to be awarded a national contract.
“For full disclosure and background, but not necessarily for release to the media, they were scheduled to be appointed yesterday to an agency panel for the provision of healthcare assistants,” the official wrote.
The email, also released under the Freedom of Information Act, said the decision was on hold while the HSE investigated allegations that individuals working for Good People had been “recently convicted of fraudulent activity”.
“Until that matter has been fully investigated by our legal advisers they will not be appointed to that agency panel,” the official said.
The HSE withheld any reference to the agency contract in initial replies to press queries. In fact, the HSE’s original statement issued in August said its records showed Good People “have not been appointed to any national contracts”.
In response to recent queries, the HSE confirmed Good People had been picked to sit on a panel of firms supplying agency workers.
That move was suspended after HSE procurement officials became aware of the conviction of a former employee, a spokeswoman said.
The contract was to be handed to Goodpeople Staffing Solutions Ltd, a subsidiary of Mr Chimbganda’s other companies.
The HSE said an internal investigation into the awarding of the contract was ongoing. It is understood this inquiry will examine whether Good People might have made any false declarations in its bid for the contract.
In a further comment, the HSE said it was “unacceptable that anyone would falsify documents relating to vetting”.
Mr Gloster said: “We take safeguarding very seriously in the HSE and act appropriately based on information we receive”.
Mr Chimbganda did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
In a previous statement, he said the falsification of vetting documents concerned a “former junior employee, who acted entirely alone” without the knowledge of management.
