Scandal hit charity Bóthar is aiming to break even this year as losses continued to mount in 2023.
New accounts for the Co Limerick based Bóthar CLG show that losses more than halved to €282,824 from the losses of €711,311 sustained in 2022.
Revenues increased by 60% to €768,695 and the directors state that "after the significant progress made by the company in re-organising and improving its corporate governance procedures, there was a significant uplift in both legacy donations and donations in kind".
However, the income for last year is someway off pre-scandal income of €3.44m for 2020.
The directors state that Bóthar continues to apply cost reductions where necessary with the goal for the 2024 financial year "of incurring a small deficit or a position of break even".
The directors add that having experienced a critical downturn in activities in prior years arising from the alleged mishandling of corporate finances by previous board members and a former CEO, "the company re-emerged on an innovative and rejuvenated platform".
They state that this involved "presenting a remedied vision to new and existing donors and a promise to restart and maintain the original foundation and purpose of the organisation".
They state that in addition to ongoing cost reduction measures, the company also disposed of its Limerick premises in the latter months of 2023, "something which has provided a source of temporary funding for ongoing operation costs until a point is reached whereby revenue is sufficient to cover daily costs".
The accounts reveal that there was no additional costs in 2023 to the charity arising from the identified alleged fraud and related legal and other costs.
The bill over the prior years had totalled €1.3m but the new accounts disclose no new exceptional costs from the scandal in 2023.
Addressing the company's going concern status, a note states that the advances made by Bóthar in 2023 and 2022 demonstrate a progression towards full compliance with governance requirements and particularly those of the Charities Regulator.
They state that this process has had a substantial impact on Bóthar's finances and reputation resulting in the sale of premises in Dublin and Limerick.
"However, suitably Bóthar's employees moved to part-time working from January 1, 2024 as part of cost reduction," the note stated.
"The company reduced office space to a more fit for purpose office rental in Castletroy and offer remote working as part of current employment contracts," it added.
It also states that the directors continue to work towards a position where expenses of the company are covered by revenue as there is no further reliance on funding from the sale of assets.
Numbers employed have decreased from 12 in 2020 to now only four in 2023 with staff costs reduced by 57% to €303,258.
The directors state that the charity recorded a successful Christmas campaign in 2023 and followed up with an Easter appeal.
The directors state that there have been extraordinary but necessary cost curtailment measures in the last two financial periods.
"These actions were overwhelming for the organisation but were essential in order to bring the company to a position of stability and recoup public confidence," they state.
The alleged misappropriation of funds at Bóthar first came to public attention in 2021 through Bóthar taking High Court injunction proceedings against its former CEO David Moloney.
Alleged irregularities first came to light in Bóthar during the 2019 financial year from an anonymous whistleblower concerning inappropriate travel expenses.
In the High Court, David Moloney, who resigned as CEO in February 2021, said he and the former chief executive, the late Peter Ireton, misappropriated hundreds of thousands of euro in cash
Mr Ireton, one of the founders of Bóthar, died in his home in April 2021. Mr Ireton had denied any impropriety.
In their 2023 report, the directors confirm that a criminal investigation by Gardai continues into a formal complaint into historical practices at the company.
