A charity at the centre of a Garda money-laundering investigation has received more than €2 million in State funding since the start of the decade, records show.
Liberties Recycling Training and Development company received the money from the Department of Social Protection under the community employment (CE) scheme. The idea behind the scheme is that the department pays employers such as Liberties Recycling, which has 95 staff, to provide community jobs to unemployed or disadvantaged people to help them back to work.
Financial statements show the Liberties organisation – also known as Liberty Recycling – received €487,213 from the department in 2024, €416,201 in 2023, €377,154 in 2022, €405,106 in 2021 and €517,772 in 2020.
The Garda inquiry and seizure of luxury goods has drawn a new degree of scrutiny to Liberties Recycling, which operates under the supervision of the Charities Regulator.
“We can confirm that we are engaging with the charity’s trustees,” said the regulator in reply to questions. “As there is an active Garda investigation, the Charities Regulator cannot comment further at present.”
Based at Bluebell Industrial Estate in west Dublin, Liberties Recycling has nine charity shops in Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, Ennis, Bray, Mullingar, Drogheda and Cork. It operates 180 recycling banks around the State, collecting used clothes, shoes and textiles, which it then sorts, grades and packs for reuse in clothes markets in developing countries and for sale in its own shops.
The organisation aims to help people recovering from drug addiction to progress “through their rehabilitation and into employment”. Workers can receive certified training in forklift driving, computer applications and also in maths, first aid and payroll.
The chairman is Aengus Ó Snodaigh, long-time Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South-Central, and the chief executive is Philip Moloney. There is no suggestion whatever that either man is under investigation.
Liberties Recycling has its origins in the closure of the Iveagh Market in Dublin, where Moloney’s family historically traded used clothes. When the market closed in 1995, a group led by Moloney came together with the idea of involving the community in a clothes recycling initiative to provide jobs and training to local people affected by drugs.
The latest available accounts for the charity show a financial deficit of €347,632 in 2024, an increase from the €255,447 deficit in 2023.
The charity reported income of €3.63 million in 2024 and expenditure of €3.98 million. Republic of Ireland income was €1.76 million and “rest of the world” income was €1.34 million.
In a statement, the Department of Social Protection said it had “recently become aware of the investigation”.
“The department funds a drug rehabilitation community employment programme in this company. The programme operates as a drug rehab CE programme, working with recovering addicts.
“Referrals to the programme are made by HSE and addiction counsellors. Departmental staff audit the CE company annually, ensuring that all funds provided by the department are used appropriately on the CE programme.
“The department will continue to work with the sponsor board and scheme supervisors to ensure the participants can continue to benefit from this rehabilitation programme.”