Our Lady’s Hospice apologises for financial control weaknesses in the past

Our Lady’s Hospice has issued an “unreserved apology” for insufficiently comprehensive financial controls in place in the organisation in the past.

The current chief executive of Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services Audrey Houlihan said the HSE internal audit investigations related to historical matters during the period 2006 to 2015 and that the organisation had worked systematically though its findings.

“They (the HSE auditors) have demonstrated that the financial controls in place at that time were not sufficiently comprehensive. For that, the board and management offers an unreserved apology. Our current management and board of directors have fully taken this on board and acted immediately to enhance our financial procedures to ensure best practice.

"Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services took decisive action and implemented a robust range of new financial management processes and policies. We worked actively with the HSE, Department of Health, Charities Regulator and the gardaí."

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Ms Houlihan said 100 per cent of the recommendations in the HSE internal audits had been implemented. She said the high priority recommendations were immediately addressed and some were complete before the report was finalised.

“We are committed to upholding good governance, transparency and the highest standards possible and we would like to thank all our friends and supporters for their trust and ongoing support. We would also like to reassure our supporters that the practices referenced are historical and do not reflect the current robust procedures in place.”

Ms Houlihan said Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services was established in 1879 and was one of Ireland’s oldest and largest hospices.

“We are a €40 million organisation delivering care to people all over south Dublin. We have 200 beds, 600 staff and over 330 volunteers who are dedicated to helping our patients. Over the last five years more than €25 million has been spent on patients’ needs. These monies have been used to fund vital positions that provide health care for those with chronic disease and at end-of-life, to pay for essential maintenance programmes and to fund major capital projects.”