The former Director General of the HSE, Tony O'Brien, is to take over as the chairperson of the board of the Peter McVerry Trust charity, Prime Time has learned.
Mr O’Brien takes over from Deirdre-Ann Barr who stepped down as chairperson in January.
Mr O’Brien’s appointment to the crisis-hit charity is expected to be approved by the McVerry Trust board later this week.
Prime Time has asked the charity for comment. It confirmed the appointment, but gave no further details.
He faces an enormous challenge in rebuilding faith in the charity, whose reputation has taken a battering in the last couple of years.
Prime Time has previously reported on a number of breaches of corporate governance.
They included the leasing of a charity-owned house to the family of a friend of then CEO Pat Doyle even though the friend did not qualify for social housing.
The charity also later awarded a €200,000 per annum contract to a company operated by the same friend without going through a tendering process.
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The charity has also been the subject of two damning reports by the two bodies responsible for regulating it, the Charities Regulatory Authority and the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority.
Mr Doyle has previously told Prime Time that he has "engaged and cooperated fully" with the regulators’ investigations and "set out a clear rationale for some of the decisions made within Peter McVerry Trust."
The McVerry Trust recorded income in 2022 of €61.7m, around two-thirds of which came from the State.
However, in mid-2023, fewer than two months after taking over from Mr Doyle as CEO, Francis Doherty reported serious governance concerns to the McVerry Trust board and to the regulators.
That ultimately sparked the investigations by the two regulators.
Deep in crisis, the charity sought emergency funding from the State, receiving a €15m bailout starting in late 2023. The charity continues to provide valuable services to the State.
However, Prime Time understands that because of its difficulties and financial troubles - which included a multimillion euro debt to the Revenue Commissioners - it did not tender to renew one of its key contracts, to provide 'Housing First’ services.
Housing First services are mainly provided to individuals at the most extreme end of homelessness, including those with addiction or mental health problems.
The McVerry Trust continues to provide hostel and other accommodation for homeless people.
Department of Housing figures released on Friday show that, throughout the State, 15,418 people were homeless and relying on emergency accommodation.
That is a record high and compares to 4,135 people in March 2015.
At a time when services like those provided by the McVerry Trust are most needed it has been the subject of drip-drip revelations about poor corporate governance.
Last June, for example, Prime Time revealed that over a six-year period, up to €40m in restricted donations - money given to the charity to be spent on a specific purpose - was diverted for other purposes, including to cover running costs by the charity.
