THE TAOISEACH HAS said it was “not appropriate” for the Peter McVerry Trust to sign off on a peacock enclosure at one of the charity’s homes in Co Kildare.

Micheál Martin said the revelations were “very disappointing and worrying” owing to the key role the charity has in providing social housing.

The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee heard this week that the Peter McVerry Trust spent money on the enclosure for two peacocks at a period property it had earlier purchased.

While Martin said the charity did and continues to provide housing which has made a difference to many people, he warned about the overall effect “undermines confidence”.

The Fianna Fáil leader added that he had listened to what the chairperson of the homeless charity Tony O’Brien told the committee, and believed the leadership has the “capacity to turn this around”.

Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg in South Africa, where he is attending this weekend’s G20 summit, Martin said the government would continue to provide funding for the Trust.

“There are a lot of homes under the stewardship of the Father Peter McVerry Trust and that’s important too,” Martin said.

Micheál Martin speaking to reporters in Johannesburg today Eoghan Dalton / The Journal Eoghan Dalton / The Journal / The Journal

“We have to look after existing tenants,” Martin said, noting that projects are being constructed at the moment.

He added that his hopes the charity’s processes can be strengthened so that the Trust can “get back to its core job of building homes for people without homes”.

At this week’s Dáil committee, TDs also heard that there was more than €300,000 was spent on resurfacing and widening the driveway, and a separate amount was spent on building a second lift shaft on the side of the property.

It has a thousand properties, an annual budget of more €60 million, 700 staff and provides services for the homeless, those with addictions, ex-prisoners and those seeking asylum in Ireland.

But the charity has faced serious difficulties in recent years over its finances.

Former chief executive Francis Doherty telling the Public Accounts Committee that the finances were in “such a poor state” when he took over in 2023 that they were “verging on total collapse”.