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THE COMPANY BEHIND Ireland’s largest homeless family hub was previously paid millions of euro to run a Direct Provision centre, TheJournal.ie can reveal.
The Townhouse on Gardiner Street in Dublin’s north inner city opened in the second half of last year as a homeless family hub.
The former commercial hotel and guesthouse had previously been used as emergency accommodation for homeless families while it was still in operation as a hotel.
The hotel and B&B operation has since closed at the premises and Dublin City Council has entered into lease an agreement with the owners for the entire property to be converted into a homeless family hub.
Family hubs are group style homeless shelters for families. They have been rolled out over the past 15 months as a measure to reduce the number of families staying for long periods in hotels.
There are currently 17 hubs in operation in Dublin, with a combined capacity of 437 family units (hubs range in size from four up to 98 family units).
The majority of these hubs are run by housing and homeless charities; however a total of six are currently owned and operated by private companies (with more to open this year).
Sources working within homeless services have indicated that the capacity may not be within the not-for-profit sector to meet the demand to manage and staff all of the family hubs.
This – as well as the fact that some of the hubs are simply converted private hotels – led to private companies managing some of the hubs, while Focus Ireland is working with the families staying at the facilities.
This type of accommodation is known as PEA (Private Emergency Accommodation).
In cases where the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) enters into an agreement with the owner of a building, no tender is needed.
In light of the hubs opening, Dublin City Councillors, opposition politicians and community outreach workers have all raised concerns about the privatisation of essential state services.
The Townhouse
The Townhouse has a capacity of 98 family units, making it by far the largest family hub in operation.
The building is located at 47/48 Gardiner Street in the north inner city.
It was formerly run as the Townhouse B&B and the Globetrotters Hostel, before it ceased operations.
The building is owned by the company Absolute Accommodation Providers Limited – which is also managing the family hub there.
A spokesperson for the DRHE - which manages homeless services across the four Dublin local authorities – said that the company will be providing the staff to manage the hub.
Key workers from Focus Ireland will work with the families in the Townhouse to help them source permanent accommodation and ensure their needs are being met.
Absolute Accommodation Providers Ltd was set up in 2007. Latest company filings (from 2016) show that it is wholly owned by its parent company, Maurice O’Connor Investments Ltd.
Maurice O’Connor Investments Ltd was set up in 2000 and is owned by Maurice O’Connor (56), who has an address in Howth, north Dublin.
O’Connor owns a number of properties in different areas across Dublin, and is a co-director of Absolute Accommodation Providers and Maurice O’Connor Investments with Muriel O’Connor.
The address of both companies is 47/48 Gardiner Street – the location of the family hub.
Latest accounts filed for 2016 show that Absolute Accommodation Providers have just over €7.7 million worth of fixed assets (such as land, buildings or equipment).
It also has an unsatisfied bank loan of just over €8 million, the majority of which does not have to be paid back for five years or more.
Direct Provision
Maurice O’Connor Investments Ltd and companies formerly owned by it have previously been paid sums by the Justice Department and the HSE to provide residential care services and facilities.
The company previously ran a Direct Provision Centre at Clare Lodge, Ennis, Co Clare.
The facility operated from 2000 to 2009 and catered for between 65 and 80 male refugees and asylum seekers.
Accounts from the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) – which manages DP centres across Ireland – show that between 2000 and 2006 Maurice O’Connor Investments was paid over €4.9 million by the Justice Department for running the centre.
It was also paid just over €142,000 for briefly providing services at a number of smaller properties across Dublin in 2003.
From the end of 2006 to September 2009 (when the DP centre closed), the operation of the centre was taken over by another company – Misty Croft Ltd.
Misty Croft was paid close to €2 million to run the centre for this period.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said that the centre was closed due to a reduction in the number of people needing accommodation.
At the time, Misty Croft was owned fully by Maurice O’Connor Investments. It had two directors – Maurice O’Connor and Theresa Fitzsimons.
Misty Croft
Job descriptions for Misty Croft describe it as a community-based childcare provider.
It provides community residential services for young people – including asylum seekers who may have been separated from parents – and is funded by the HSE to do so.
It provides services at a number of different small facilities across the country. In 2016, the company had 35 members of staff. In that year it had just over €475,000 in equity.
Accounts up to 2013 show that Misty Croft rented business premises from Maurice O’Connor. Misty Croft paid over €423,000 in rent to O’Connor in 2013 (amounts of rent paid are not available in accounts after this).
Up to 2013, accounts also show that it was owed over €3.6 million from Absolute Accommodation Providers.
While specific details of money owed are not available after 2013, accounts from 2015 show that Misty Croft was owed €4,767,672 from an unnamed source.
Accounts from this year from Absolute Accommodation Providers showed that it owed the exact same amount to a group company.
This debt was no longer present in either company’s accounts in 2016.
In 2016, Maurice O’Connor stepped down as director of Misty Croft and ownership of the company was transferred from Maurice O’Connor Investments Ltd to Theresa Fitzsimons – who is now its sole director.
The company’s address is listed at 47/48 Gardiner Street (the address of the Townhouse family hub).
Latest documents (up to May 2017) show that Theresa Fitzsimons is also the owner of another company – Graray Ltd. Graray owns and operates Dublin’s newest family hub – the Anna Livia Hub - which opened late last month at the former Lynam’s Hotel on O’Connell Street.
Graray also shares directors with a separate company – R&G Administration – which manages and oversees accommodation for homeless families at two separate locations in Dublin.
TheJournal.ie revealed last month that R&G Administration made profits of close to €3 million in 2016.
Privatisation of hubs
Dublin City Councillors and homelessness community activists have previously expressed reservations about the increasing privatisation of homelessness services.
“I have concerns that any homeless service is run by a profit-making company,” said Sinn Féin councillor Daithi Doolan, chairman of the Housing Committee.
“For years services have been run by Dublin City Council and funded by central government,” he said.
He said his worries were centred around private companies being “less accountable” to the homeless people and families involved, ideas echoed by party colleague Janice Boylan.
“My concern is [around the question] ‘are private companies able to provide the care that families need?’,” she said.
These concerns were echoed by Eilis Ryan of the Workers Party, Independent councillors Christy Burke and Cieran Perry, and Patrick Costello of the Green Party.
Also commenting last week, Anthony Flynn, head of homelessness community group Inner City Helping Homeless, said relying on private operators to run essential services was “totally unacceptable”.
“The fact that we now have reliance on private operators to provide service provision to the homeless sector is totally unacceptable,” he said.
TheJournal.ie contacted Misty Croft and representatives from Maurice O’Connor Investments Ltd for comment.
TheJournal.ie spoke to a representative for Maurice O’Connor Investments over the phone on Thursday. Despite questions, the representative said he would not be talking to the media.
As a reason for not commenting on the company’s operations, the representative said he was concerned for the privacy and safety of the residents.
Misty Croft had not responded to email contact at the time of publication.
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It tells us a lot about the culture and working of the seanad when the biggest story to come out of it last year was senators entitlement to free all ireland final tickets.
Still, those were media headlines – it’s the media’s whole job to entertain and advertise. Our Senate covers a lot of issues, have a look. http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/yearlist?readform&chamber=seanad
@Adrian: In fairness I do not believe it was the biggest issue to be discussed there. The Independents have ad a significant on the legislative system where Ministers are no longer assured of their majority whipped vote. The point here is it could do so much more if the wil is there to reform it.
Senators my hole,these people for the most part are egotists with little or no regard for the public good! Parasites on the public expenditure who like nothing more than the sound of their own voices.And the hypocrisy of aodhan o riordan voting against it then taking the seat was an insult to the electorate.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: You are correct and the current Seanad has had a significant impact on recent legislation
@Dave cullen: Dave I think you should read the contributions made in the Seanad by recently elected Senators all of whom have had a significant impact.
@Senator G Craughwell: Not to many THUMPS UP across your comments senator .. ‘ I am not sure if you’ should ‘participate.’ ……… !
I would suspect that the majority of people don’t see the Seanad been an effective body. They can’t stop any legislations, they can only delay it passage. They can’t change legislation, they can only offer suggestion. They’re not effective at introducing new legislation into the Dail.
@Senator G Craughwell: The Seanad flagged CETA at a time when it was highly relevant but (deliberately?) being underdiscussed elsewhere in the Oireachtas. I voted to retain the Seanad in the referendum and my reasons were about the potential of the Seanad and not how it was being constituted by the Irish political parties. I absolutely did not trust FG (or Labour) in the motive for putting forward the referendum (the dishonest claim that it amounted to political reform and reduction in number of politicians and that the Seanad could not be reformed (Enda Kenny’s position stated by Varadkar on Vincent Browne’s TV3 show), I did not trust them to (if they had won) transparently dissolve the Seanad (e.g. not sneaking in something in the legislation with wider consequences. That said the Seanad desperately needs serious reform to be relevent and the possibility of that in the current party political environment is extremely unlikely.
@Senator G Craughwell: The Seanad us a pointless, undemocratic, waste of money. Aren’t you embarrassed to be surrounded by so many other failed politicians who can only get their snouts in the trough by the back door method of Seanad elections and their tiny electorate?
Well done for engaging with the journal Senator in a transparent and honest manner a pleasant change from other politicians. It’s such a shame that the reform needed by the house has not been taken place as promised when the motion was defeated. In your opinion what reforms are needed to have a fully functional second house and what is the first step to it taking place?
Don’t mind the red thumbs haters going to hate….
Amazing that people who supported the abolition of the senate are now the first ones to fill in the expenses sheets and collect salary.# snouts in trough.
@john g mcgrath: Yeah, one particular Labour senator Aodhan O Riordhain for example. Nauseating hypocrisy at his worst!
Curious to see what the author as a senator himself thinks of the hypocrisy of Aodhan O Riordhain? #thetwitfromtwitter
A bit like a real politician in a way senator.Answer the questions you want to. What if I ask you your favourite pizza topping??
The truth is nominations for the Seanad election should close on the same day as they do for the Dail. I am totally opposed to the use of the Seanad as a consolation prize for anyone. I hope this answers your query.
We should be allowed to vote again because we got it completely wrong the last time!
For once we agree on something.
Think this lay about store should be given the axe . The likes of Heather Humphreys and her free GAA tickets entitlement. The like of her and more should go on job seekers and learn how the real people of Ireland live.
Heather Humphreys is a member of the Dail not the Seanad.. that was Michelle Mulherin you are referring to, but she should be retired as should the rest of them, half the Dail and CC’s too
All anyone wanted was to vote against Ends. He hoodwinked the nation again. Seanad waste of taxpayers money full stop…
@Willy Malone: Just imagine how free the Government would be if there were no Seanad. Imagine how hard Ministers would have to work if they were not assured of a whipped majority. A reformed Seanad could do so much more.
@Willy Malone:
So because Kenny proposed abolition of the Seanad, it’s his fault it’s still there?
That’s some pretty twisted logic right there.
Maybe people could take some personal responsibility for how they voted, rather than whinging that Enda made them do it by proposing the opposite.
@Willy Malone: Enda hookwinked no one. The stupidity of the Irish population was laid bare. Kept the Seanad to give Enda a bloody nose.
@Gerard – the notion of the second house from an oversight and governance perspective. But sometimes you need to start again.
@Brinster: do you get time and a half os double time for working on a sunday?
Oh can we please stop with the crap. . As soon as someone has a difference of opinion they are accused of being a shill or a troll . It’s ridiculously immature!
@Bejasus Bejorrah:
How incredibly funny and original you are.
Not pathetic at all.
Thank you for your incredibly incisive retort…did you think that ip by yourself?
Did you see the SIPO reports where FG Fraperoom lackeys charged €93k for their services?
….. “I am confident that few, if any, voters would vote to keep the outdated and ineffective upper house we operate in today”
I BET THEY WOULD !…the Irish electorate are one of the must gullible easily led electorate in Europe..that’s why we have been plagued with the politics of FG & FF for ever and a day, and why we vote NO, YES, NO, YES again..and DONT KNOW….we are electorally stupid !
@CJ Stewart: Well now CJ that is just a bit harsh on the Irish electorate but I am not sure if you participate.
@Senator G Craughwell: well senator..since you are not sure..why open your mouth in the first place… ? ? ? ?
How about allowing citizens to vote for their senators? Like they do in other democratic countries. Im not a fan of the senate but we need it
@Michael Collins: The current Seanad reform Bill has this included in it.
@Michael Collins: that in the reform bill he mentions http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=33177
We have the veneer of Democracy. A lot more representation could be done if these institutions were modernised.
I voted to keep the Seanad, but it badly needs reform, PROPER reform.
The only thing the Seanad change’s is their paychecks.
Reform will never be on the agenda. Something that useless needs to be abolished.
In that case, you effectively voted for FF to reform the Seanad as they were the only major party to ‘promise’ such reform. SF, I have to say, rose in my estimation when they supported abolition as they recognised that reform was never going to happen.
Let have another vote on this lot…
The reason people voted against abolishing the Seanad was very simple, they feared handing TD’s total power, especially after bringing the country to the brink of bankruptcy (and other abuses) with the power they already had.
An Seanad allows nominee Seanators of the Taoiseach, such as Marie Louise, draw a good salary and to express sycophantic adoration of the Taoiseach.
It also gives a platform to eccentric and obsessed types to voice strong fumdamentalist Roman Catholic dogma.
I voted for retention and would do so again. Its true the Seanad is largely a talking shop. But as the Senator says, the govt no longer has a majority there and as such, if the Seanad puts its mind to it it can wield real influence through the delaying power.
have your say