The Rehab Group received €82.2 million in State payments last year, new figures given to the Public Accounts Committee show. The disclosure comes amid controversy over Rehab's failure to reveal the pay of its chief, Angela Kerins.
Ms Kerins and Rehab have defended that stance by saying 60 per cent of Rehab’s income comes from the commercial arena, but the Rehab board has been called to a special meeting on Monday week to discuss releasing the figure.
Disclosure is increasingly likely, given Government pressure for all elements of her remuneration package to be revealed. With the scale of State payments to the organisation now apparent, the committee will next week discuss how to proceed with its examination of Rehab’s finances.
The committee received correspondence on Thursday showing payments made to Rehab by the former State training body Fás and its newly established successor, Solas. The figures show that Rehab received more than €135 million from Fás/Solas in the past five years.
The information casts further light on the amount of public money flowing into Rehab. This comes at a time when Rehab's defence against disclosing Ms Kerins' pay rests on the argument that its commercial income exceeds its income from all other sources.
Private correspondence
Solas told the committee in private correspondence on Thursday that Rehab received €27.03 million in fees for training and other services in 2013.
This is on top of the previously disclosed €50 million it received last year from the Health Service Executive. The organisation is also known to have received €2.61 million from the Department of Social Protection and another €2.58 million under the Charitable Lotteries Fund from the Department of Justice.
The decision to phase out the Charitable Lotteries Fund is at the root of tension between Rehab and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter. He has raised concerns over the low profit margins in Rehab Lotteries and questioned the "costly" legal action the group has taken against the State .
Rehab’s payment under the lotteries fund in 2012 was €3.92 million, and from Fás in 2012 was €27.92 million.
