On the Receiving End – The Positive Action Scandal
Poraic Cahill opines about the Recent Positive Action Scandal of which the charity has been charged with the misuse of funding
An interesting tit-bit was revealed to me by John from the local (Cherry Tree Pub) recently. He had read about a support group (called ‘Positive Action’) for women infected with Hepatitis C (after receiving contaminated blood from maternity hospitals) using funds given to them by the Department of Health for nights out in expensive restaurants & consumption of alcohol.
Now after receiving the Anti-D blood product from the Department of Health with its resultant effect of Hepatitis C, this correspondent can well understand if these women decide to spend the funds allocated to them on a good booze-up (which would accelerate the deterioration of an already dodgy liver).
However, the nights out were not had by the infected women, but by the Directors of ‘Positive Action’ who attended conferences held for medical experts rather than non-medics (the women). The expenses totaled to around the €87,000 mark.
In light of these expenses and other odd ones (e.g. funding for dog kennels & lessons into how to ‘dance the spiral’) and the mis-management of their budget of €2.3 million over the period 2009-2013, ‘Positive Action’ had its funding stopped by the Department of Health and was subsequently wound up with debts of €107,000.
Judging by the many expenses (Eilish O’Regan’s article in the Irish Independent lists them in great detail) ‘Positive Action’ had, and its inability to continue operating after the Department of Health had ceased its funding, this correspondent conjectures that the Directors of ‘Positive Action’ must have managed their organisation by the motto- ‘it better to receive than to give’.
In future this correspondent shall be more wary of those (future girlfriends, bank managers & bosses) who delight more in the virtues of receiving rather than giving.
Your correspondent speculates that the people at Department of Health who looked after, and distributed the Anti-D blood products, and those who help fund the support group ‘Positive Action’ would now be more cautious when giving; and having been infected with Hepatitis C by the Department of Health, and having their funds mis-managed by ‘Positive Action’, this correspondent would also conjecture that the women contaminated with Hepatitis C, would now be less trusting when receiving.
