Files show HSE manager sold property to charity seeking funding

A senior manager in the Health Service Executive sold a privately owned apartment to the Peter McVerry Trust shortly after he signed off on funding for the housing charity.

In late February 2020, Dónal Cassidy, then the general manager of Social Inclusion/Addiction Service, HSE in Dublin North City & County (HSE Community Health Organisation DNCC), signed a service arrangement between the HSE and the Peter McVerry Trust.

It approved funding of €1.5m for the charity. Mr Cassidy was described as the “service lead” in one of the funding documents. That April, Mr Cassidy, his wife, and two other relatives, sold an apartment at Swords, Co Dublin, to the Peter McVerry Trust for €235,000.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Mr Cassidy was promoted to head of mental health services at CHO DNCC.

RTÉ Investigates understands that another HSE official would have proposed the amount of annual funding for the charity. However, documentation shows that Mr Cassidy also had a key role in approving this funding.

RTÉ Investigates attempted to contact Mr Cassidy repeatedly. Among several questions asked was whether he had disclosed the apartment sale to HSE management, and whether it posed a potential conflict of interest. Mr Cassidy did not respond.

The HSE said it “cannot comment on matters relating to individual staff members.”

The Peter McVerry Trust also declined to answer any questions relating to the transaction.

Code of Conduct

The HSE Code of Governance defines a conflict of interest “as a situation or situations in which financial or other personal considerations may compromise or have the appearance of compromising, an individual’s ability to make objective decisions in the course of their job responsibilities within the HSE.”

HSE employees are subject to various rules and policies regarding conflicts of interest, including the Department of Health’s Code of Conduct for Health and Social Service Providers.

According to the HSE, the Code “stipulates that employees must avoid conflicts of interest when carrying out their roles and requires them to seek the guidance of HR should they require any clarification on issues of this nature and ensure that decisions are made through established procedures without improper influence.”

Separately, ethics legislation requires HSE employees above a certain salary grade to complete an annual written statement of interest if they have a potential conflict of interest. The HSE explained that those employees must set out in writing “interests… which could materially influence” them in performing their official duties.

Neither the HSE nor Mr Cassidy – who, as a senior manager, is subject to ethics legislation relating to statements of interest – would say whether he had disclosed the details of the apartment sale in his 2020 statement of interest.

Funding

In a recent response to a parliamentary question, CHO DNCC’s Social Inclusion/Addiction Service said that from 2018 to 2022, it provided the Peter McVerry Trust with around €14m in total. Funding increased significantly in 2020 because of Covid.

“Where the HSE provides funding to voluntary service providers, this is governed via a Service Arrangement,” the HSE told RTÉ Investigates.

“The Service Arrangement sets out the funding provided and the specific level of service that is agreed to be provided for the funding. Service Arrangements are approved in line with HSE National Financial Regulations.”

The HSE website explains that a service arrangement is a legal contract.

On several occasions, HSE funding-related documentation for 2020 and 2021 involving the Peter McVerry Trust references Mr Cassidy. The 2020 service arrangement, signed on 28 February 2020, described Mr Cassidy as the “Service Lead” on a list of key contacts.

The service arrangements reference several other HSE officials, in addition to Mr Cassidy, regarding their roles in managing the HSE’s relationship with the charity.

This document stated that the total funding for that year would be €1.5m for various homeless and addiction services.

Mr Cassidy signed the document on behalf of the HSE. In this instance, he was referred to as the “Acting Head of Service Primary Care, HSE CHO DNCC.” According to the Property Price Register, the Swords apartment was sold on 9 April 2020.

That December, as part of the 2021 service arrangement, Mr Cassidy was referred to as the HSE’s recipient of “any notice or other communication under this Arrangement.”

Subsequently, in February 2021, Mr Cassidy signed off on the second part of the 2021 service arrangement, which approved funding of €800,000 to the Peter McVerry Trust.

Register of Interests

Separately, the HSE has taken High Court proceedings against the Information Commissioner, seeking to block the release of registers it maintains to monitor the receipt of statements of interest.

In May 2022, as part of a project on conflicts of interest in the public healthcare system, RTÉ Investigates submitted a freedom of information request to the HSE seeking copies of registers used to record the receipt of statements of interest by its staff.

The HSE refused the request, saying that releasing the registers would violate ethics legislation and disclose personal and confidential information.

However, following an appeal by RTÉ Investigates, the Information Commissioner said that the registers should be released.

The HSE then issued legal proceedings, seeking a High Court order overturning the Information Commissioner’s ruling.

The High Court heard the case in February and is expected to deliver its judgment next month.