{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/67c5d757b48a8f157c1f9076/6895bd7cf9482328d0f42321?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"INVESTIGATION: Fine Gael Councillor Co-Owns Company Accused of Charging  Unlawful ‘Agency Fees’ - 08/08/2025","description":"<p>A Fine Gael councillor who recently served as the Mayor of South Dublin is one of the owners of and a shareholder in a recruitment company that has charged foreign nurses thousands of euro in “agency fees” to come and work in Irish nursing homes.</p><p><br></p><p>Baby Pereppadan, a longtime Fine Gael member and a local representative for Tallaght South, co-founded a limited company called Angel Care Consultancy Limited in 2022 with businessman Babu Valooran Kochuvarkey.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><em>The Journal Investigates</em> has spoken to three nurses who say they paid thousands of euro in agency fees to Angel Care Consultancy Limited, on top of and separate to the money they paid for the standard expenses nurses face when coming to Ireland, including the fee associated with their visa, a work permit, the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) aptitude exam, the English language proficiency exam, and their plane tickets.</p><p><br></p><p>Eimer McAuley from The Journal Investigates spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this. </p><p><br></p>","author_name":"lmfm "}