A STATE company that paid more than €900,000 in expenses for its former chief executive between 2002 and 2010, including his household bills, will post a €4 million loss for 2009, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday.
The new chief executive of the Irish National Stud, John Osbourne told the Joint Committee on Agriculture the company would be posting its results shortly and they “were not pretty”. He said the company had “blown the boom”.
Mr Osbourne, who has been a director at the stud in Tully, Co Kildare since 1998, was called before the committee to explain expenses paid on behalf of former chief executive John Clarke and his wife Monica.
The Irish Times reported last month that the stud spent more than €800,000 on travel-related expenses over eight years. Return flights to Paris in November 2006 costing more than €2,300 for the couple were among the expenses.
The couple lived at Tully House, on the grounds of the stud, for part of Mr Clarke’s tenure.
In excess of €134,000 was spent by the stud on bills related to the house from January 1999 to December 2009, including on heating and lighting, to which Mr Clarke made a small contribution. Among other bills was one for more than €30,000 for redecoration in 2003 and over €22,000 for a patio.
Concerns had also been raised about business being done between the stud and its directors, as well as legal actions taken by six former staff members which cost the stud more than€700,000.
Mr Osbourne told the committee the stud would post a loss of €4 million for 2009 with an operational loss of €1.5 million. This would not be “an immediate drain on the exchequer”, he said.
Defending Mr Clarke’s expenses, Mr Osbourne said the chief executive was expected to attend major international sales and race meetings.
“In hindsight, aspects of the expenditure may appear excessive, but the company must maintain a profile in the competitive world of stallion promotion,” he said. The stud had to compete with international companies that had “deep pockets” and Mr Clarke never travelled first class, but did travel business class, he said.
Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture Michael Creed called for a “full and comprehensive independent analysis of corporate governance” at the stud, including on the issue of bullying.
He highlighted the case of former farm manager, Pat Mullarkey, who took the stud to court after bullying allegations and ultimately cost it over €360,000. He asked Mr Osbourne what steps had been taken by the stud after that case.
“No steps, because it recurred again and again at considerable expense to the stud,” Mr Creed said.
“I didn’t say that,” Mr Osbourne responded. He said there was a change in style now “with everyone working well together”.
There were regular meetings on governance and they had employed a HR person, he said.
Mr Osbourne also acknowledged there might appear to be a “certain element of conflict” when directors carried on business with the stud, but they always disclosed their interests.
Fine Gael TD, PJ Sheehan bemoaned the “penny-pinching” mood of the media. And Fianna Fáil TD Bobby Aylward said €4 million loss was “not a big amount of money”.
The Labour Party spokesman on agriculture Seán Sherlock, who had called for the stud to come before the committee, was replaced at the meeting by Kildare-based Labour Party TD Jack Wall. Mr Wall praised the stud and said he didn’t want to see Mr Osbourne’s efforts undermined by past events.
Committee chairman Fianna Fáil TD Johnny Brady concluded the meeting by saying that members of the committee would be delighted to visit the stud in the near future.
