Chair of garda medical insurance society stepped down over governance concerns 

Concerns that the St Paul’s Garda Medical Aid Society, which has a turnover in excess of €180m, was not being managed by a person with a professional background were first expressed in 2019.

The chairperson of the gardaí’s medical insurance society stepped down last year because of concerns over how the society was being governed, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Some of the concerns that the chair, Garda Stephen Sheerin, expressed had first been raised two years previously by the trustees of the St Paul’s Garda Medical Aid Society (SPGMA) but had not been addressed. 

In recent months the society has changed its decades-old practice of seconding a serving garda as general manager but the first non-garda general manager, appointed through a recruitment process, was previously a long-standing civilian member of An Garda Siochána. The society is funded by members' subscriptions as well as a subvention from the state of around €125,000.

Management concern

Concerns that the society, which has a turnover in excess of €180m, was not being managed by a person with a professional background were first expressed in 2019 in a letter from the trustees to Mr Sheerin’s predecessor as chairperson. 

The letter posed the question: “If the society was to appear in the courts or other public forum on some financial issue or was to be reviewed by a government regulator, how would they view the GMA being managed by a garda with no financial medical insurance qualification or experience?” 

In 2020 Garda Sheerin was elected chair of the 20-member governing committee, all serving or retired gardaí. He resigned the following year over his concerns. In his resignation letter, he pointed out that he had raised his concerns over governance at three consecutive board meetings. 

“I feel that I have made my position clear a few times over the last number of months but as it stands I do not feel able to bring about changes that I see as necessary to the management structure of the society,” he wrote.

Garda Sheerin told the Irish Examiner that contrary to the contents of his resignation letter, he stepped down as chair but not as an ordinary member of the board. He says he is now satisfied that his concerns have been addressed and he is serving as an ordinary member.

The secretary of SPGMA, retired garda Owen Connell, who has since September 26 stepped aside as general manager, denied there were any governance concerns at the society.

“The society is held in high regard by all our members, stakeholders and suppliers or medical services and any assertion to the contrary has potential to do serious reputational damage which would be unjust and plain wrong," he said in a statement.

Expenses proposal

A further issue of concern raised at board meetings of St Paul’s last year was the proposal to award all board members a €500 voucher in expenses to cover Wifi and IT costs during the pandemic when meetings were held by zoom. Following concerns by one member, three others declined to accept the voucher. The total cost of the vouchers was in excess of €8,000.

The new general manager, Michael Dodd is an accountant who worked for many years in garda HQ and was appointed following a recruitment process run by HR firm Voltedge. The interview panel for the process included three garda members of the society and a representative from Voltedge.

“The interview process was managed from start to finish by a professional independent recruitment agency,” Mr Connell said.