Charity begins with transparency

The cover of night was used in 2008 to ram through the worst financial decision ever made by an Irish government, when a blank cheque was written for the European banking system.

This government also used the cover of darkness to ram through the covert privatisation of the former Anglo Irish Bank. It’s remarkable how quickly a government can act. Why can’t the Government pass a short, snappy law requiring all organisations in receipt of State funding, be it a political party or Rehab, to be subject to full disclosure rules and freedom of information, as is the case in all Nordic countries.

Is Angela Kerin’s fighting so hard, and spending so much of the charity’s money on lawyer fees, to keep senior pay levels a secret, because she is afraid of the reaction from frontline staff at Rehab and its service users? Every excessive euro paid to senior management is a euro less for the provision of services people rely on. Perhaps she’s also under pressure from other charities and not-for-profits that have similar arrangements and don’t want the spotlight to turn on their practices. This is yet another example of Irish governance failing to reach even the lowest standards of transparency.

If Rehab is not willing, or able, to match a higher standard, then maybe it’s time to transfer its taxpayer-funded activities to another charity that doesn’t have an issue with transparency and does appreciate that if you work in the charity sector, especially at senior level, that you are meant to forgo potential private sector earnings, not copy them.

The political class is on shaky ground in making this point, given their own claims to be motivated by public service, while paying themselves private sector salaries and expenses. But reform, leading to a change in mindset and culture on issues of transparency, has to start somewhere.

Desmond FitzGerald

Canary Wharf

London

England