An organisation that raised hundreds of thousands of euro for an autism charity has decided not to hand over the money because of concerns about changes to the way the charity operates.
Early Childhood Ireland said it is holding on to the €300,000 it raised for Irish Autism Action during its annual National Pyjama Day event this year.
It cited questions about fundraising costs, budgeting and cash flow for 2016, cuts in behavioural outreach services it provides to families, management changes and a reduction in staff numbers at Irish Autism Action.
Early Childhood Ireland said it met the charity's new CEO Brian Murnane to seek assurances that it can deliver on the agreement between the two organisations before any money is relayed and said it is continuing to monitor the situation very closely.
A group of concerned parents also met Mr Murnane earlier this week to ask questions about how membership fees and fundraising was being spent.
A spokesperson for the group told RTÉ News that their questions were not answered satisfactorily, saying they were left with more questions than answers after the meeting.
A member of the group, Irish Autism Mammies, has called on Irish Autism Action (IAA) to provide greater clarity in relation to funding and services.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Vicky Pullen said they have been questioning for some time how funding is spent by the charity.
Ms Pullen said clarity needs to be given around what the funding is being spent on and why there are services listed on their website but people do not know where these services are being provided.
She said there needs to be transparency in relation to the money that is going in and out of the charity as no details are given in the accounts.
She also said she would like to see an independent investigation in to the accounts and their budget for 2016.
Ms Pullen said she met with the CEO of the charity last week and that many of their questions went unanswered.
IAA had deficit in latest accounts
The latest financial accounts for Irish Autism Action show that it made a deficit of €74,133 in 2014.
The accounts stated that the charity received 6% of its income in Government grants, with 5% from HSE contracts in 2014.
Total income for the year was €969,300 and it spent over €1m.
The company filing said that it was no longer receiving funding from the State and so it could no longer raise sufficient resources to fund all existing activities.
As a result, it said that the directors had prepared financial projections to December 2016, incorporating a reduction in operating expenses.
The accounts to the end of 2014, lodged with the Companies Registration Office in February 2016, note that Irish Autism Action had started a 'restructuring programme' to focus future charity work in the areas of autism awareness, information, support and national advocacy.
The filing said that in 2014, it had facilitated 476 therapy sessions for member families, counselling and information for 617 families and maintained an outreach service for 64 families, as well as other activities.
Core services were run through a national centre in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath.
IAA listed itself as having four full-time and ten part-time staff.
The HSE this evening said it provided about €130,000 to Irish Autism Action over the past three years as part of a grant aid agreement and for some service provision
It says that no concerns have been raised with it about the charity and that it will therefore not be taking any action in relation to the recent concerns that have been raised.
The HSE says it does not audit the accounts of agencies but such bodies are required to provide audited financial statements to the HSE as part of the grant aid agreement process.
