THE STATE body that advises the Government on disability issues has rejected suggestions of a conflict of interest in its decision to award a major contract to disability services provider Rehab.
The chairwoman of the National Disability Authority (NDA), Angela Kerins, is also chief executive of Rehab, one of the largest disability service providers in the State. The authority last month awarded a €200,000 contract to Rehab Enterprises - a division of Rehab - for support and advice in relation to its "excellence through accessibility" awards.
The Labour Party's spokeswoman on equality, Kathleen Lynch TD, said it was natural that some would question whether there was a conflict of interest in the awarding of the tender.
A spokesman for the authority said the contract was awarded following a public tendering process which did not involve Ms Kerins.
He said a "tender review panel" was responsible for the decision to award the contract and that Ms Kerins was not on this committee.
"This panel is typically made up of members of the authority," a spokesman said. "Department of Finance criteria are followed which are well established and rigorously followed by the National Disability Authority, with scores awarded to competitors against published criteria." Four organisations applied for the contract, awarded to Rehab Enterprises during the summer. The spokesman said its chairwoman absents herself from any board meetings in relation to Rehab.
"Any situation where the chair of an independent organisation, like the National Disability Authority, is also chief executive of a major service provider can lead to the perception of a potential conflict on interest," Ms Lynch said. "There may not have been any bias at all in the decision, and I'm sure there wasn't, but we have a situation where people will naturally question decisions where there is a close relationship like this."
The contract relates to "accessibility, advisory and assessment services" for awards given to public services which move to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. The Rehab Group is an independent not-for-profit organisation with a turnover of about €170 million. It has a number of divisions including Rehab Enterprises, which employs 400 people across a range of businesses.
Ms Kerins was also appointed by the Government as chairwoman of the Equality Authority last year. This appointment was also then questioned by Ms Lynch as posing a potential conflict of interest. Then minister for justice Brian Lenihan rejected this and said Ms Kerins had served with distinction as chair of the NDA since 2000.