FOLLOWING two years of denials, the remnants of County Cork VEC has finally had to accept its house was not in order. While managing its €100m annual budget, it failed to keep proper accounts and, because of these shortcomings, it underpaid it taxes.

Mallow Credit Union has refused to clarify how a property asset was recorded in its accounts at being worth 63 times its actual value to the institution.

A €1m VEC creche that was supposed to facilitate a five-fold increase in affordable places is losing money and catering for the same number of preschool children than when it was based in a smaller unit next door.

Nearly a quarter of the country’s children and young people are worried about the economic downturn, describing it as the worst thing about living in this country.