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HomeCharities in focusST JOHN OF GOD SNUB TO THE HSE

ST JOHN OF GOD SNUB TO THE HSE

By: Michael O’Farrell 

Investigations Editor

HSE auditors investigating €1.6m in secret payments at the St John of God charity had no choice but to delay plans for a meeting with CEO John Pepper this week because they were told he would be out of the country on business.

But, as our photos inside show, Mr Pepper investigations editor never left the country. Instead he attended two training sessions of his local GAA team ahead of a league final they played in yesterday.

The HSE inquiry into secret payments to 14 senior St John of God managers was sparked in July when an Irish Mail on Sunday investigation revealed unsanctioned top-ups and other concerns at the State-funded charity. Now at an advanced stage, the investigation is understood to be focused on a number of final strands such as the credit card expenditure incurred by certain managers including Mr Pepper whose routine annual salary is €182,000.

Chief Executive John Pepper at a training session at Geraldines GFC in Ireland. Photos by Sean Dwyer
SUPPORTER. St John of God Chief Executive John Pepper at a training session at Geraldines GFC in Ireland. Photos by Sean Dwyer

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In response to MoS questions, the HSE last night confirmed that on Friday, September 30, its audit team telephoned St John of God superior Brother Donatus Forkan to request a meeting this Wednesday, October 5. The auditors asked that certain Visa card statements be provided in full and that both Mr Pepper and his number two, Claire Dempsey, attend with Brother Forkan, the MoS understands.

Requesting a meeting with little notice at which documentation must be produced and explained on the spot is a common and acknowledged audit technique.

However, Brother Forkan told the HSE that he and Mr Pepper were due to fly to Malawi on business and could not attend the meeting.

Instead Brother Forkan requested that the meeting take place on Tuesday, October 11 – the day after he and Mr Pepper were due to return from Malawi. Reluctantly, the HSE agreed and on Sunday last Brother Forkan flew to Malawi.

However, he was not accompanied by Mr Pepper.

According to well-placed sources, Mr Pepper instructed a team of St John of God staff to begin preparing the Visa card statements in advance of the now-postponed HSE meeting.

On Monday and Tuesday this week – when the HSE believed he was in Malawi – Mr Pepper did not appear to show up at work at St John of God headquarters in Stillorgan, south Dublin.

But he did venture out on Tuesday evening to help with a training session at the Geraldines GAA club near his home in Blackrock, Co. Louth.

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The Irish Mail on Sunday – October 9, 2016.

On Wednesday – the day of the cancelled HSE meeting – Mr Pepper returned to his office and, according to sources, was occupied with preparing documents for the now rescheduled HSE meeting late into the evening.

The HSE was still unaware Mr Pepper was in the country and as such available to meet if required albeit without Brother Forkan.

During Wednesday the HSE received an email from Brother Forkan in Malawi in which he asked that the rescheduled meeting – now set for October 11 – be further postponed to allow him time to prepare after his return.

The email also informed the HSE for the first time that Mr Pepper had not travelled to Malawi and was in fact still in Ireland.

The HSE agreed to a short postponement of the meeting which is now scheduled for next Friday, October 14 – nine days after the initial date set by the HSE, which was postponed on the basis that Mr Pepper would be away and unable to attend.

Meanwhile, according to sources, on Thursday Mr Pepper once again attended his office and continued working with a team preparing documentation for presentation to the HSE.

On Thursday evening he once again attended a training session at his local GAA club in advance of a county league final the club played yesterday. The delayed meeting is not the first stumbling block in the HSE’s audit of payments to senior managers at St John of God.

From the outset the charity – which has received hundreds of millions from the taxpayer – appears to have adopted an overtly defensive stance and even threatened the HSE with a legal letter over public statements that the topups were a breach of Section 38 pay rules.

When the MoS first revealed the secret payments, the HSE said it was completely unaware of them and that it was ‘gravely concerned’ over the revelations. Since then further MOS investigations have revealed that Mr Pepper has at least five family members employed at or providing paid services to the charity.

Mr Pepper has denied any involvement with the recruitment of family members. Relatives of his who are working for St John of God include his wife, his son and his brother.

Questions have also been raised about other expenditure at the charity such as €23,000 spent on sending six members of staff – including Mr Pepper – to the 2016 Catholic Health Assembly at the JW Marriott Grand, a luxury hotel in Florida, in June.

The trip came amid continuing cuts to services across the charity and was revealed by the MOS the same week that the closure of one facility – St Augustine’s centre for teenagers with intellectual disabilities in south Dublin – was announced. The closure has since been reversed.

Further revelations included details of how management at St John of God hired private detectives to put staff under surveillance. Mr Pepper did not respond to a request for a comment.

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Michael O'Farrell - Investigations Editor
Michael O'Farrell - Investigations Editor
Michael O'Farrell is a multi-award-winning investigative journalist and author who works for DMG Media as the Investigations Editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper.

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