Annual accounts for Bothar for the year to June 2023 showed the charity reduced its loss from €711,311 to €282,824.

While income from donations increased by almost €300,000 to €768,595, this figure remains far below the €4m raised in 2019 before concerns about financial irregularities at the charity came to light.

The board said that they have made “extraordinary but necessary cost-curtailment measures” in the last two years, which were described as “overwhelming for the organisation, but essential in order to bring the company to a position of stability and recoup public confidence”.

Since 2021, the number of staff at the charity has dropped from 10 to four. Bothar sold its premises in Limerick last year and now offers remote working to remaining staff. From 1 January of this year, suitable employees moved to part-time working.

Overheads

The charity noted that while it continues its charitable activities, the associated overheads in doing so have proved strenuous on its reserves.

While the board said it believes that the charity has sufficient liquidity – the report showed cash at bank of €261,888 – to keep operating, a material uncertainty does exist over its ability to continue as a going concern.

There were no new costs during the year arising from legal and other expenses directly relating to governance issues at the charity. Those costs were more than €100,000 in 2022 and just under €500,000 in 2021.

Bothar outlined the ongoing investigations into historical practices at the charity, including a criminal investigation by gardaí in the wake of a formal complaint and an investigation by the Charities Regulatory Authority into the company’s former financial regularities.

The charity has also taken injunctive proceedings against it former CEO, including an application to the courts to prevent the former CEO from diminishing his assets.

The charities regulator said that it has paused its investigation, pending the outcome of the Garda investigation.

Bothar said that donors will be fully briefed should the investigations reach a point where further information is available or where investigations reach a conclusion for publication.