'Significant contradiction' in CHI payment row, PAC hears

A "very significant contradiction of the facts" has emerged in relation to a €30,000 payment to Children's Health Ireland (CHI), the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) has heard.

CHI says the payment was for a staff party - something the private contractor involved has challenged.

The committee is examining whether proper procedures were followed, how the payment was classified, and whether there was any inconsistency in the information provided to auditors.

Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan said retail and facilities management company Aramark had issued a statement outlining its position on the payment - something that caught the CHI representatives by surprise at today's session.

Lucy Nugent, Chief Executive of CHI, said that this was the first she had heard of the statement.

This was despite CHI having met with the CEO of Aramark earlier this week.

Ms Nugent said that during that meeting, "we established that the fault is on CHI, we're owning that, and accepting that, which is why we returned that money".

She said she could "categorically say, regrettably, CHI asked for that donation".

Deputy Geoghegan pressed her on whether she accepted that what Aramark is now saying "is a contradiction of what you told the Comptroller and Auditor General?"
"Absolutely," Ms Nugent acknowledged.

Reading from the company's statement, the deputy said: "Retail revenues fell due to visitor restrictions during Covid.

The €30,000 payment was made as final reconciliation of concessions which was required arising from service interruptions caused by Covid restrictions."
Asked again whether the Aramark CEO had directly contradicted what CHI had told the Comptroller and Auditor General, Ms Nugent said the organisation would need to study the company’s statement and review its invoices.

Deputy Geoghegan responded: "It seems pretty clear that they’re not accepting that the monies were for a Christmas party.

"So we have a very significant contradiction of the facts."
Ealier, Ms Nugent said that an internal review was conducted into CHI having accepted the €30,000 from the private contractor towards the cost of a staff Christmas party in 2022.

The existance of the payment had been discussed at a previous PAC sitting.

CHI had asked for this donation "in an attempt to keep the ticket price reduced for our staff", she said, adding "it was wrong".

Ms Nugent said they "spoke to people who were involved at the time and they advised that they asked for it."
"You spoke to the then CFO of CHI Crumlin?" the deputy asked.

Deputy Geoghegan noted that the event pre-dated Ms Nugent's tenure as CEO.