The Transgender Equality Network of Ireland has reportedly removed a bio on its website after a question about its chair’s accountancy qualifications.
The development was reported by The Times, who asked TENI – Ireland’s biggest transgender lobbying group – if the organisation’s chairperson, Sara Philips, was a chartered accountant. Shortly after this, the group removed Phillips’ bio from its site.
While Phillips’ photo, name and role can still be seen on the board page, there is no description of her background as there is for other board members.
Philips, in addition to chairing the TENI board of directors, is also an executive board member on the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI).
According to The Times, Phillips allegedly described herself as “a qualified chartered accountant” when seeking her position on the NWCI board and said it was a stepping stone which she had built her career upon.
Chartered Accountants Ireland reportedly said they have nobody by the name of Sara Phillips on its register. Speaking generally about those who incorrectly claim to be chartered accountants, the group said it would ask that such individuals “desist.”
While Phillips’ NWCI profile says she has an ACCA qualification, Chartered Accountants Ireland says this does not permit one to describe themselves as a “chartered accountant.”
Last month, the HSE suspended funding to TENI after it failed to file its annual accounts on time. The group received €1.24 million from the HSE between 2017 and 2021, and last year alone received €230,000.
However, the group has consistently failed to file audited annual accounts in time provided by law, despite being in receipt of substantial sums from both the Irish state and £385,000 from the Sigrid Rausing Trust since 2014.
While TENI reportedly filed their 2019 accounts 18 months late, they have been late submitting their accounts three years in a row.
In 2017, two TENI directors received almost €6,000 in total in consultancy fees from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. However, the same year, TENI’s 2017 accounts, they incorrectly reported that there had been “no transactions between the directors and the company during the period.”
The group later accepted responsibility for this.
“It should have been in there,” said Lynne Tracey, TENI interim joint chief executive.
“We hold our hands up on that one. There was an IHREC-funded project for employers and employees supporting transgender inclusion in the workplace. Sara and Alex both contributed to that.”
Tracey described the incident as a “screw up.”