No confidence motion in counselling charity board withdrawn

A motion of no confidence in the board of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) arising from claims of a lack of financial transparency was withdrawn at its annual conference in Kilkenny.

"All matters were discussed at the meeting and all matters were resolved at the meeting," the spokesman for the IACP, Gary Culliton, told The Irish Times following the meeting.

The motion, supported by three of the organisation’s former chairs, had arisen after efforts to get details of some foreign travel and credit card spending had allegedly failed.

A Facebook page, Therapists for Change, backed by the three ex-chairs, Ray Henry, Gillford d'Souza and Bernie Darcy, has recently expressed strong criticism of the organisation.

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Efforts to get details of €75,000 worth of expenses, foreign travel and credit card spend had failed, the page claimed, adding that the failure was “deeply worrying and needs to be urgently addressed”.

“The lack of transparency evident seems to be reflected in the decision of the board not to allow minutes of this [September 15th] meeting to be kept, and is gravely concerning.”

Minutes not kept

Minutes of a meeting of the association’s board in September were not kept because it had been decided that the meeting was neither a formal one, nor a decision-making one.

“We were puzzled by this seeming unwillingness to record the facts,” said the group, adding the discussion that did take place had “left us, in most cases, neither better informed, nor less concerned, than before”.

Saying that they had put down the motion of no confidence, the group said the board had failed to respond in writing “to our many questions and concerns”. The reason for the withdrawal of the motion, however, is unknown.

The largest counselling and psychotherapy association in Ireland, IACP was set up in 1981 and is a registered charity, representing over 4,200 members throughout the State.

According to its annual accounts, in 2016 the board undertook a complete review of all IACP systems and policies, and developed a three-year strategy for the organisation. At the end of the year, it had €1.4 million in assets, and liabilities of €180,516. An independent auditor’s report appended to the accounts said they gave a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities and financial position as at December 31st.