A CHARITABLE foundation set up by businessman JP McManus has given more than €30 million to causes in Ireland and abroad over the past five years.
Accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office show that the JP McManus Charitable Foundation Ltd, which has been in existence since 2000, gave away €30.3 million between 2007 and 2011. The figures just filed show that the amount of money it handed out last year more than doubled to €4.7 million from €1.8m in 2010.
The foundation is largely funded from JP McManus’s Invitational Pro-Am golf tournament, which is held every five years. In 2010, the foundation received €22 million from the event.
A prominent figure in the racing industry, Mr McManus visits Ireland regularly from his base in Geneva, Switzerland, and is non-resident for tax purposes.
In 2009, the foundation donated €10.5 million to charitable causes and this followed donations totalling €10.7 million in 2008 and €2.4 million in 2007.
The foundation is currently largely funding a €13 million medical unit for patients with cystic fibrosis, breast cancer, stroke and other neurological conditions at the Midwestern Regional Hospital in Limerick.
Last year the foundation received submissions from 241 charitable organisations and made donations to 146 of those.
Through its donations the foundation works to provide relief from poverty, give care and comfort to the terminally ill, alleviate distress in the areas of drug addiction, human rights and sexual and physical abuse, and support the provision of education and training.
Mr McManus does not sit on the board of the foundation, but his wife Noreen and his daughter Sue-Ann Foley are directors. The Minister of State for Housing, Jan O’Sullivan, resigned as a director last July.
The foundation recorded bank interest income of €1.46 million and dividend income of €571,060. At the end of last year it had €26.3 million in cash and €37.9 million in total funds. Administrative costs were €30,820. One person was employed with a salary of €20,700. Investment management costs were €149,100.
