These are the Board Meeting minutes from 20 November 2015
We are happy to publish the minutes of our Board meetings so that Board activities and decisions are accountable. There is always a delay between the meeting held and the publication of the minutes. This is because the minutes must be approved before they can be published. Minutes are approved at the meeting after the meeting they are a record off. For example, if a Board meeting is held in March and the next meeting is held in April, the minutes of the March meeting will not be on the website until after the April meeting.
Present:
David O’Callaghan (Chair), David Lane, Tom Daly, Austin Currie, Rosemary Adaser, Frances Harrington. Damian Casey, Katherine Finn, Phyllis Morgan
In attendance:
Mary Higgins, Siobhán Kane, David O’Duffy, Lucy Kenny
| Item | Discussion | Decision Action | Time |
| 1. Minutes | The minutes of the meeting held on 29th July were approved, proposed by Tom Daly and seconded by Phyllis Morgan. | Approved | |
| 2. Report on action point arising from last meeting | The report was noted including the fact that:
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| 3. Report on applications | The report for September and October was considered and it was noted that by the end of October 10,594 applications had been processed to payment and total spend to date is €36,045,453.
Telephone calls and post continue at the rate, respectively, of 7000 and 3000 per month. In light of this it was agreed to recruit a temporary administrative assistant to help to manage this demand. |
Temporary administrative assistant to be recruited |
Immediate |
| 4. Report of CEO and Mazars implementation plan | The CEO report was noted, including the continuation of efforts to secure an enhanced medical card, outreach meetings and the departure of one Advisor.
The Mazars report was also noted and it was agreed that the actions relating to the Board should be listed in the matrix in future Arising from a discussion on office accommodation, the Board agreed that securing alternative premises must become a priority. In the meantime, it was agreed to invest in some replacement furniture. |
Board actions to be listed in future reports Alternative premises to be prioritized and furniture to be bought |
Immediate |
| 5. Report of the Audit and Risk committee | Damian presented the report of the committee which included an update on the review of client services by Capita. It was agreed that they should be invited to present to the next meeting of the Board.
Fraud prevention, procurement and credit card policies prepared by the executive were formally approved and adopted by the Board. |
Internal audit to present report to next meeting
Policies adopted. |
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| 6. For information | (a)Tenders and contracts – there were no new contracts this period
(b) The parliamentary questions were noted. A discussion was held on a request that had been received by a survivor support group for funding for training courses for survivors. It was agreed that the executive prepare a paper on this broad issue of Caranua paying for such services for the next meeting. |
Paper for next Board meeting. |
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| 7. Proposals on criteria, services and outreach | A presentation prepared by the executive was presented to the meeting and there was an in-depth discussion on the proposals.There was general support for the proposed outreach programme, the focus on reaching those most in need, and the introduction of funeral costs and household goods, there was not agreement on all issues.
It was agreed that there should be a follow up meeting of the Board to consider the proposals in further detail. This would be a “one issue” meeting without the usual business of the Board and scheduled for 17th December. |
Follow up meeting on 17th December.
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| 8. Revised Guidelines | It was agreed that since the Guidelines are intrinsically linked to the criteria that this item will be considered in that context. | Consideration deferred. |