THE Combat Poverty Agency was closed as part of a "done deal" to silence it as the country headed into a major recession, members of the board have alleged.

Detailed minutes of meetings held by the body reveal that some board members believed the agency was an embarrassing "pimple" that the government wanted squeezed out of existence.

The Combat Poverty Agency was one of 41 so-called quangos, which were effectively axed in the last budget and absorbed into other departments.

Combat Poverty was subsumed into the Office for Social Inclusion and has lost its independent status, and will now form part of the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

Minutes of the final meetings held by the Combat Poverty Agency, in the run-up to its dissolution, reveal that board members believe the group was specifically targeted and effectively silenced.

One board member, Anthony Gavin, told a special board meeting on 13 September that it was "the most classic and systematic tearing apart of an agency."

Another board member, Maria Gorman, said that a review by a steering committee had been merely "camouflage." An account of her comments contained in the minutes obtained by the Sunday Tribune read: "Maria Gorman said that she knew how the system worked and that a decision had been made to close down Combat Poverty."

Continuing its account of the meeting, the minutes say: "John Loughran said that his instincts told him this was a 'done deal'. People in poverty would lose an independent voice – or at least, see that voice seriously weakened."

Another board member, John Monaghan, said the work of the Combat Poverty Agency would be "stultified" by being merged directly into a government department and that the decision was the result of a "turf war."

Board member Tony Lane said that it was "a sad day for people in poverty." The account of his contribution says: "He wondered why Combat Poverty was not being listened to. It was as if a stone wall was built around us so that the advice never got to its destination.

"In particular, this was a bad time to be closing Combat Poverty, given the rise in unemployment.

"Retention of Combat Poverty was not for the sake of the board or staff but for those living in poverty. He felt that the economic crisis we were now entering would be much worse than the 1980s."