A whistleblower has accused Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and former taoiseach Enda Kenny of “political interference” to frustrate criminal investigations into farmers and pharmacists by the Department of Agriculture.
Former minister Richard Bruton, TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the State’s chief veterinary officer, and a former president of the Irish Farmers’ Association were also accused at a Workplace Relations Commission hearing on Tuesday of lobbying to have investigations stopped.
Louis Reardon, a veterinary inspector with over 20 years’ service at the Department of Agriculture, has complained that he was transferred out of a “prestigious” job with its special investigations unit because he made a protected disclosure accusing senior officials and politicians of “interfering” to block investigations.
The Department of Agriculture denies retaliating against the whistleblower in breach of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.
At the outset, its legal team sought to have the details of the protected disclosure excluded from the evidence, arguing the documents were not relevant to the claim.
The adjudicating officer, Tom O’Driscoll, said he had jurisdiction to investigate the seriousness of a complaint and said he would accept all the documents submitted at the outset.
Darach MacNamara BL, for Mr Reardon, said his client’s case “is that he was involuntarily transferred against his will – an embarrassing and humiliating development in an otherwise unblemished record in the civil service”.
Sarah-Jane Hillery BL for the department argued Mr Reardon’s transfer was wholly in line with recommendations made by a steering group examining the work of the special investigations unit where he worked.
Mr MacNamara then opened to the adjudication hearing the protected disclosure made by Mr Reardon to then minister for agriculture Michael Creed on August 2nd, 2017.
Mr Reardon detailed the first of eight matters raised in the document concerning a company called Animal Farmacy Ltd.
“There was sufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution. The investigation was snuffed out in its infancy before I could go to the actual pharmacy involved, where I felt there’d be a lot more evidence of wrongdoing,” he said.
“There was political interference here from the then-taoiseach Enda Kenny, Richard Bruton, minister for enterprise, and Simon Coveney, the minister for agriculture at the time. They also elicited the assistance of John Bryan, who was the head of the IFA, [and] John McGuinness TD,” he said.
He said he was investigated twice over “unsubstantiated” allegations made against him by the company, and a decision was ultimately made not to prosecute the firm.
Ms Hillery made an objection to the level of detail being given in evidence.
She said there were a number of people named “who aren’t here to answer” – adding that the adjudicating officer would not be making a finding of fact in relation to the allegations raised in the protected disclosure.
After further detail of the disclosure was provided and allegations against Martin Blake, the chief veterinary officer, were referenced, Ms Hillery said she accepted that Mr Blake was named in the protected disclosure “because he’s the chief veterinary surgeon but matters shouldn’t go any further.”
Mr Reardon told the commission that in his new role he deals chiefly with the exports of livestock, dogs and working on the TB control regulations.
“[It’s] work that I had done 20 years previously,” he said. “I was after spending 20 years acquiring a new skillset in an extremely important part of the department’s work, one that I was told I was very good at, and then I was just thrown in the dustbin.”
Mr Reardon is set to be cross-examined on his evidence when the case resumes for an in-person hearing after the court vacation in early June.
The exact date and venue have yet to be set by the Commission.