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THE REHAB GROUP said today that legal action is being taken against the author of a letter sent about the group to the Public Accounts Committee.
In a strongly-worded statement, it also criticised the chairman of the PAC, TD John McGuinness.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, McGuinness pointed out that the remarks Rehab was referring to in its statement were issued by PAC as a committee and not on behalf of any individual member.
Allegations
Last Thursday, the PAC said it had referred a letter containing “a number of serious allegations” against individuals linked to the Rehab Group to the gardaí.
The committee said that it had received a letter from the solicitors acting on behalf of the developer John Kelly.
The letter fell outside the remit of the committee, and the PAC met for over an hour on the issue. It was decided to send the letter to the gardaí.
The situation has taken a new turn with a statement released by the Rehab Group.
Rehab referred to the comments made by McGuinness in PAC’s statement about the letter:
That the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee would comment publicly in this way on the allegations said to have been made, without having first given those persons who are said to be the subject of the allegations an opportunity to see the allegations, and to respond to them, is grossly unfair.
Rehab alleged that the comments have “caused serious harm to the Rehab Group, to individuals within the Rehab Group, and to its employees”.
It has also caused unnecessary anxiety to persons who receive services from Rehab Group companies.
The Rehab Group also said it is particularly concerned that the PAC has “refused to provide it with a copy of the letter said to contain the allegations made”.
It concluded: “We understand that legal proceedings are presently being issued in response to the allegations made by Mr Kelly.”
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, John McGuinness said: “The statements or remarks that they are referring to were issued by the PAC as a committee and not as any individual member. They were issued after the matter was discussed in full, after unanimous agreement was reached across all members to issue the statement publicly”.
He said the release of the statement “follows legal advice we were given”.
The PAC is due to hold a further meeting with Rehab on 10 April.
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Rehab alleged that the comments have “caused serious harm to the Rehab Group, to individuals within the Rehab Group, and to its employees”.
Frank Flannery and Angela Kerins seriously f&*ked Rehab and every other charity in Ireland by their actions .For their sake I hope i never have the pleasure of meeting either of them..
My sentiments entirely Dermot.
It wasn’t the comments Dermot, it’s the “fat cats” creaming off extortionate wages that has done the damage.
Charity my arse, they can bloody well sing for it.
I would rather hand my money to someone on the street and know where it’s going.
They are trying to gag the man, must be a big fire burning under that smoke?
That woman who is managing Rehab needs to be pulled down off her high horse and all funding to Rehab should be stopped and returned. Hit the recycling part with levies.
Fire them all,and start afresh with new management!
The only sensible solution at this point.
Strange how Rehab execs are whinging about being denied an opportunity to respond to allegations when they did all they could to avoid responding to previous PAC concerns.
Cut the public purse strings and see how quickly they come running to the table to answer the pertinent questions
Where do those grandiose out of touch idiots get off playing the victim here? That’s it I’m giving up all hope. What’s the point in it all?
Rehab has not yet seen the letter but wants to sue. Of course, it is entitled to sue all it likes. Good luck to it.
I’m more interested in what An Garda Siochana and the DPP make of the letter. Are the allegations true? Is there any basis for the serious allegations? The criminal investigation will take priority over any civil litigation.
It was interesting that Kerins and Parker enjoyed helicopter and private jet jaunts to Michelin star restaurants. The life of a publicly funded company seems wonderful fun.
All the properties in the Rehab Group should be audited to establish who owns them and which are rented? Did the government hand over property to rehab when it started and when the Group grew? How many of their sites sought planning permission and who developed them? The whole Board of management could face jail if found to lying. Are the Gardai investigating? Are the revenue investigating?
If Kerins answered all the questions PAC asked I would not have stopped giveing to charities so Rehab suck it up
Rehab have the monopoly on Irelands recycling industry and it needs to be publicly investigated to find out how it is performing and who is benifitting.
The Mission of Rehab is “To promote equality and to fight disadvantage through world-class services and initiatives”. Is the Management & board living up to this Mission ?
I wonder are all the people working for rehab particularly those “service users” are they being paid a proper wage.
Patrick, no they are not but they don’t have a lavish lifestyle like Angela’s to support.
It’s loads a money against very little money.
What type of legal action? If it’s just a discovery motion…no biggie, and not exactly newsworthy.
How can you have a discovery motion when there are no proceedings in existence?
So to distill it down to basics, party A is sueing party B because party B reported some alleged wrongdoing about party A to the guards. Have I got that correct ? I can’t be right because that’s pure ridiculous. It’d be like me sueing someone who reported me to the guards for smashing up their car. ps have I spelled sueing right ??
Tony, spot on.
Rehab would not be in all of this trouble had they not been so utterly devotied to feather bedding themselves. They are reaping what they sowed. They put self interest before everything else.
Clearly, the senior management team is compromised. Its position is untenable.
Rehab needs a clean out. Notice how fast on the trigger with solicitors letters Rehab is. That tells you a lot. Hiding behind solicitors letters is not a sign of transparency.
I love the way that Rehab are worries about Their clients , well Angela, Frank, should know that it is their actions that have caused the clients the most anxiety, I know because I am one of those clients
The blame game nobody stands up and takes accountability.
Rehab has, is and will continue to be protected by the establishment. This does a major disservice to the raest of society.
The government has failed to act in the Rehab scandal and there is a reason; its protecting their friends and those who are part of the system.
We have a government in exile in a week when scandals are continuing to get uglier and pose serious questions about the type of society this coalition government and its predecessors want.
From the evidence it wants a corrupt system.
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