The charities sector in [broken link removed] is a pretty crowded space. There is also lots of duplication, which means it is quite territorial.
It can make for intense competition when pursuing donations whether from private or State sources. And the State is the mother of all funders where Irish charities are concerned.
A good example of proliferation in a specific area of service where charities are concerned has to do with suicide prevention/bereavement.
In all there are 48 separate agencies supplying services in this area, with 13 doing so exclusively.
The largest by turnover is at Pieta House, founded by Senator [broken link removed], which had a reported total income of €5.97 million in 2015. Six of its staff are on over €70,000 with two earning over €85,000.
It reflects another feature of Ireland’s charities, particularly the larger ones; key staff are well-looked after.
Total benefits received by the eight key management personnel at Pieta House in 2015, not including employer pension contributions, was €585,226. It received €895,228 in funding from State sources....
....Concern received €24.6 million from the Government, through Irish Aid, in 2015. It has 32 staff on over €60,000 a year, with four on €90,000-plus. Chief executive Dominic MacSorley is on €99,000 plus a 9 per cent contribution to his defined-benefit pension.
Remuneration, including pension contributions, paid to its 10-member executive management team in 2015 came to €874,631.
he Government is Trócaire’s single largest donor and, according to its accounts for the year ended February 29th, 2016, it received €21 million from Irish Aid.
It has 18 staff who earn more than €60,000, two of whom are on more than €90,000. Chief executive Éamonn Meehan is on €118,750, with a car valued at €7,689.
Remuneration, including pension contributions, of €725,915, was paid to its seven-member executive leadership team during the year.
Goal received €17.3 million from the Government, through Irish Aid, in 2014 (the last year for which its annual accounts are available).
Of its staff, 13 were on over €70,000 a year with two on over €90,000.
Chief executive [broken link removed] was on €95,000 plus €20,000 pension contributions. Costs associated with Goal’s governance in 2014, including remuneration of staff, came to €602,000....
....In 2014 staff costs at the four main homeless agencies in the city absorbed all funds, more in instances, granted them by the State for the provision of homelessness services.
Dublin Simon, the Peter McVerry Trust, [broken link removed] and [broken link removed]received a total of €33.6 million in grants from State agencies in 2014, but spent €35.8 million on staff costs for on the 875 people they employed in 2014 (the last year for which complete figures are available for all).
In 2014, Dublin Simon’s total income was €12,519,761. It received €6,194,218 from the State. Its “average number of employees” was 188 at a total cost of €7,420,022, including wages and salaries, social security and pension.
Its chief executive, Sam McGuinness, was on a salary of €93,338 a year, with five employees altogether on over €70,000 per annum. In 2014, Dublin Simon also spent €84,980 on “motor vehicles”.
The Peter McVerry Trust had a total income of €10,656,737 in 2014, of which €6,842,691 came from the State. It employed 146 employees in 2014 at a cost of just under €8.1 million.
Chief executive [broken link removed] is paid €96,211 (€98,382 since June 2016), the same level as director regional health office).
The trust pays a 16 per cent employer contribution to the chief executive’s defined-contribution pension scheme.The income of all senior employees is in line with HSE pay levels.
The Depaul Ireland homeless agency had 213 employees in 2014. They cost it €6,469,677. Almost all its €9,184,802 income for 2014 came from State agencies.
Four employees there earned over €60,000 each in 2014, with chief executive[broken link removed] on between €80,000 and €90,000.
Earlier this year Depaul advertised for a director of fundraising and communications, offering a salary of €70,000 “circa”, and for a senior HR manager, at a salary of €55,000.
This coincided with a sustained appeals campaign for donations.
Focus Ireland had an average of 328 employees in 2014 at a cost of €13.82 million, including pensions and social insurance costs. In 2014, State agencies granted it €11.38 million.
Its chief executive, [broken link removed], was paid a salary of €115,000 plus approximately €5,000 in medical insurance (and an employer pension contribution). That amounted to a total of over €120,000.
In addition, another staff member received over €100,000, while four more received between €80,000 and €90,000 each...
...The problem with all of this hue and cry was that homelessness did not cause the death of Jonathan Corrie, which was so shamlessly exploited by so many for their own ends.
In a scantily reported hearing last month (June 20th), Dr [broken link removed], a pathologist at the Dublin City Morgue, said there was no evidence of hypothermia in the case and that Mr Corrie’s death was caused by a multidrug overdose.