Editorial: Full transparency needed from HSE over Waterford Intellectual Disability Association

The resignation of all bar one member of the board of Waterford Intellectual Disability Association (WIDA) must lead to full transparency from the HSE in relation to what has transpired at the critical Waterford charitable organisation.

WIDA employs 133 people and operates crucial supports for services for adults and children with an intellectual disability and/or autism across Waterford. The charity, which is a Section 32 organisation, receives almost all of its income from its service level agreement with the HSE – which amounted to €7,457,816 last year.

A HSE internal audit last year revealed that significant monies were being spent on legal and consultancy procurement by WIDA. Auditors highlighted that legal advice from January to May 2023 amounted to €111,546.19, while consultancy from January 2022 to May 2023 amounted to €72,775.28. 

It is understood that a number of WIDA staff members and former board members raised concerns and made protected disclosures about the charity’s board of directors to the HSE. The concerns mainly concern alleged improperly procured expenditure of money on legal and management consultancy services, which staff members believe has directly impacted their ability to provide necessary services to its users.

The internal HSE audit found there was “significant conflict between the board and management” at the centre.

Previously the Waterford News & Star reported that the HSE audit found the use of external advisers to attempt to resolve internal disputes was “using public funds, but not for the benefit of service users, and is breaching budgetary control".

Since then, what the auditors described as a “wide-ranging Industrial Relations dispute”, appears to have escalated further, with, earlier this year, a High Court case, which sought an embargo on the appointment of a CEO to the charity, during an ongoing Workplace Relations Commission case taken under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.

The Board of Directors of WIDA agreed not to appoint a CEO to the business during the tenure of the WRC case, which is understood to be ongoing, and agreed to pay for the legal costs of the applicant and their union. 

It is understood that two former board members of the charity wrote to the Charities Regulator this year to raise concerns that the charity “is insolvent as their liabilities far exceed their ability to meet them”.

As this fiasco seems to spiral further, those vulnerable clients and their families, who rely upon the services of Waterford Intellectual Disability Association, deserve full transparency, as does the public. A one-sentence statement from WIDA to the media that a new Board of Directors has been put in place is simply not good enough.