Housing regulators have expressed anxiety about the pace of efforts to overhaul the crisis-struck Peter McVerry Trust (PMVT), saying “progress has been slower than required” after prolonged turmoil in the charity.
The concerns were set out by the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) at an Oireachtas housing committee meeting which heard the PMVT had been “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul” before crisis struck in 2023.
Political scrutiny of the housing and homeless charity established by Jesuit priest Fr Peter McVerry comes two years after a financial crunch that led the Government to provide €15 million to keep it afloat.
The AHBRA is the supervisor of not-for-profit approved housing bodies (AHBs) such as the McVerry trust that receive public funds to provide affordable housing to tenants.
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A damning report on PMVT by AHBRA inspectors in December 2024 followed separate criticism by the Charities Regulator and the Comptroller and Auditor General, the public spending watchdog.
[ Peter McVerry Trust transferring dozens of properties to Dublin City CouncilOpens in new window ]
At a committee meeting on Tuesday that discussed PMVT’s troubles at length, AHBRA chief executive Fergal O’Leary said the charity was still not complying with regulatory standards.
“Monitoring continues, and if noncompliance persists, further escalation remains possible, including cancellation of registration as the most serious sanction,” Mr O’Leary said in a committee statement.
Under questioning, Mr O’Leary added: “I’m happy to say that I have every confidence in the intent of the current board to be compliant but what we as an organisation need to see over the next couple of months is evidence that they are fast and that they are working very quickly towards compliance.”
Progress had been made in recent months, he noted. “But I don’t want to give a false impression to this committee or to anybody. There is a lot of work still to go for the trust to be like its peers in the AHB sector and to be compliant.”
Mr O’Leary said gardaí had expressed interest in the regulator’s findings. He directed them to the report on the AHBRA website.
The regulator issued a direction to the PMVT in September to “reinforce existing board” co-operation, requiring it to submit specific records and information.
The PMVT is reliant on State money to provide most services because charitable fundraising “dropped off a cliff” in the wake of crisis, the committee heard.
PMVT chairman Tony O’Brien, who took up the post in May, said he “fully and unreservedly” acknowledged serious financial and governance issues.
“These are both governance and regulatory compliance failings at the most serious end of the spectrum,” said Mr O’Brien, former HSE chief.
“Not having been there but having read the various reports and having had access to the internal organisation it’s my opinion – and I stress my opinion – that there was a degree of non-strategic recklessness, if I can put it that way, about the rapid expansion of the organisation in terms of new projects and geographical reach,” he added.
“Internally there were insufficient controls that enabled the then board to have a full understanding of the financial basis upon which various bids were put in [for public housing projects].”
Questioned about PMVT’s use of a large Capuchin donation for purposes other than those specified by the religious order, Mr O’Brien said that was “completely improper” and should never have happened. The trust and the Capuchins are in remediation talks.
“At the time, there were what might loosely be called cash flow pressure which it was assumed would be resolved and there was a ‘borrowing from Peter to pay Paul’ type of effort and of course that all came to a halt when the music stopped.”
PMVT has undertaken extensive work to rebuild, he said. “As of today, the trust is addressing issues of compliance and is committed to achieving excellence in regulatory compliance – but I need to be clear that we are not there yet, and this work will continue for some time.”
The PMVT has struck a deal with the Government to transfer housing and vacant property to local authorities to repay the value of the €15 million emergency funding.
Delayed financial accounts for 2023 will be filed in October, after aspects of the 2022 accounts are restated for a second time. The new accounts will reset the charity’s fixed asset register, which includes about 1,000 properties.
