The law firm for the Peter McVerry Trust has dismissed questions raised by an official regulator about a family connection between the charity’s board and its legal adviser.
Lavelle Partners also said the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) was wrong to state the firm received almost €1.7 million in McVerry fees in 20 months, saying fees then were less than half that amount at €610,426.
The regulator supervises approved housing bodies (AHBs) such as the McVerry trust that receive public funds to provide affordable housing
Lavelle Partners’ work for the trust came to attention a week ago when the AHBRA noted its managing partner Michael Lavelle is a brother of long-time McVerry director Richard Lavelle.
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Neither man was identified in the regulator’s anonymised report but The Irish Times ascertained their names and reported them on Wednesday.
Noting the law firm received more than €1.42 million in 2022 and €247,994 in January-August 2023, the AHBRA said: “The inspectors found no evidence of a potential conflict of interest declaration or potential conflict discussion at board or subcommittee level in this regard.”
Michael Lavelle did not reply to requests for comment when AHBRA findings were published last Tuesday and Richard Lavelle had no comment that day.
On Friday, however, Lavelle Partners sent a legal letter to the regulator challenging what it said were inaccuracies concerning conflict of interest questions and fees.
The firm urged the AHBRA to issue a “corrected report”, saying it “will take such steps as were necessary” to protect its position if clarification was not issued.
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The letter said Richard Lavelle had no role in selecting or delivering legal services, saying the charity “made it abundantly clear” to AHBRA inspectors that there was no conflict of interest.
“Far from there being anything untoward, there was a long-disclosed position that Richard Lavelle was a brother of a partner in this firm that was properly managed. This firm never dealt with Richard Lavelle in relation to any legal issues which arose in [Peter McVerry Trust],” said the firm.
“Almost all of the work done by this firm up to 2023 related to property transactions and was dealt with by a conveyancing partner in the firm and not by Michael Lavelle.”
Michael Lavelle acted on a pro-bono basis for the charity in its early years and “he has not charged for any time input” up to 2024. Richard Lavelle “has no knowledge of property transactions” and was not involved in instructions to the firm.
The letter said AHBRA’s findings on fees were “of far greater concern”, saying there was “no basis” for the reported figures.
The fees “actually received” were €297,534 in 2022 and €312,892 in January-August 2023. “We were surprised that incorrect figures were used without being checked by the inspectors.”
Responding on Monday to questions, Michael Lavelle said the firm did not receive draft conclusions from the AHBRA for its comment before the report being finalised and did not make any submissions on draft conclusions.
The AHBRA said it was considering its response “and will be happy to provide an update on this once deliberations are concluded”.
Asked whether it sent draft conclusions to the firm, the AHBRA said: “The draft and final reports were shared with the AHB and those who had roles and responsibilities relevant to the control environment within the AHB. No issues were raised by the AHB regarding the payments made by them on either occasion.”
Separately, the trust said former Grant Thornton audit partner and head of risk Aidan Connaughton joined its board in November.
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