The joint parliamentary committee on the was packed to the rafters on Wednesday 24 July with journalists and politicians alike. The prime minister, (CSV), accompanied by the minister for family affairs, (DP), the minister for finance, (CSV), and the minister for education, (DP), was at the “family and control of budget implementation” committee, at the request of the déi Gréng and LSAP political groups.
Frieden was the first to speak, as he was then expected to give a press at the head of the government. He insisted that “it is Caritas that has done wrong and it is up to Caritas to find solutions. Caritas is not the state, nor is it a government organisation. There has been no misappropriation of funds by the state.”
€21m from the state since January
The prime minister also pointed out that Caritas receives around €45m a year from the state for services such as the management of reception facilities for refugees and the homeless. “Caritas issues invoices that we pay once we have checked that the services have been provided. Since the beginning of the year, €21m have been paid out, and only for services that have been carried out,” he insisted.
The government has therefore decided that “not a single euro will be paid to Caritas until there is clarity about the management of these funds and until we have a better view of the governance of the association. It is now up to Caritas to work internally on its procedures and governance.”
Finance minister Roth added that “the state makes quarterly advances. If it transpires that quid pro quos have not been provided, we will ask for these advances to be repaid.” The government would not rule out taking legal action against Caritas in the event of failure to deliver the agreed services.
It’s a bit simple to leave Caritas alone with its problems.
On the MP side, (Piraten) said he was “disappointed, because we haven’t learnt much more, the government has no plan in place to continue supporting Caritas' missions. We hope that within the two months that Caritas claims to have in financial reserves, we will have more clarity. Caritas is now over-indebted, so it remains to be seen whether they can generate enough revenue or renegotiate, but I don’t have the impression that this can be done in two months’ time.”
Déi Gréng MP said, “We have not received all the information we requested. There is an ongoing investigation, so all the details of the case cannot yet be known. But for us, the most important thing was to know that Caritas’ activities on behalf of the most vulnerable would continue.”
Risk of bankruptcy for Caritas
Bernard said: “But when the government says that, in a way, it’s up to Caritas to get itself out of its problems, and that the activities would be continued, I understand that the services provided by Caritas on behalf of the state could simply be provided by another organisation, so I think the government is letting Caritas down a little in the turmoil. It’s a bit simple to leave the institution alone with its problems. It’s a parastatal sector, so it’s not the state, but these are services that should otherwise be provided by the state.” For the MP, “there is now a real risk that Caritas will go bankrupt.”
The public prosecutor’s office, contacted by Paperjam, explained that it did not “wish to communicate beyond what has been written in the press releases” of the last few days.
This article was originally published in .