Two staff members of a Wicklow home help agency have been dismissed for stealing €128,000.
Almost two-thirds of the money has since been recovered from one of the two people involved.
Allegations about the missing funds were raised by the then directors of Wicklow Community Services (WCS), which receives more than €1 million in annual Health Service Executive funding, in 2011. Suspicions arose between late 2010 and early 2011 during an external audit.
A subsequent investigation by an external HR consultant and a legal firm substantiated these concerns.
"On completion of the internal investigation, which upheld the allegations of misappropriation, two persons were dismissed as employees of WCS and a file was passed on to the gardaí with the full support of the HSE," the HSE said in response to a parliamentary question by Fine Gael TD Simon Harris.
Investigation
“The misappropriated funds amounted to €128,000 approximately and funds to the value of €82,078 were subsequently recovered from one of the parties involved.”
The HSE said it had supported the investigation and held monthly meetings with the directors of the organisation, which provides home help and homecare services to some 300 elderly people in Wicklow and surrounding areas.
It added that the organisation had received €60,000 in supplementary funding in 2012 to meet costs incurred during the the investigation in 2011.
The HSE said there are “no current financial or service-delivery concerns relative to Wicklow Community Services Limited” which, it said, has been on a “firm financial footing” since 2012.
New board
A spokeswoman for WCS said there had been a new board and manager since December 2012, “represented by clients, clinicians and the community with both financial, management and clinical expertise”.
“While the company did experience financial difficulty in the past, it is fully compliant with thorough HSE auditing, and is on a firm financial footing thanks to the . . . hard work of its existing board, management, and staff alike.
“The company and . . . employees remain steadfast to . . . empowering our vulnerable clients to remain as independent as possible.”
Mr Harris, who received the information after a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health, said there was a broader lesson to be learned about the State’s oversight of agencies employed by it to provide services including home help services.