A report commissioned by former minister Eamon Ryan into a State fisheries body found it allowed an employee involved in a crash in an official vehicle, which the organisation had not insured, to present inaccurate documentation to gardaí, an Oireachtas committee has been told.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) said it refuted the finding that it had “knowingly” allowed the staff member to provide invalid insurance details to gardaí following the crash in Donegal four years ago.
It was alleged at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that IFI had thrown the employee “under a bus”.
Committee members strongly criticised IFI management over how they answered questions.
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Speaking after the meeting committee chairman John Brady of Sinn Féin said: “I have seldom seen an organisation so ill prepared for an appearance ... and their drip feeding of information throughout the course of the hearing was absolutely extraordinary.”
Fine Gael TD James Geoghegan said some testimony was “not remotely credible”.
Eoghan Kenny of the Labour Party said IFI had lost the confidence of the public and of the committee and needed to be overhauled and rebuilt.
Earlier this year the Comptroller and Auditor General highlighted that following the traffic crash, IFI found that 15 of its hired vehicles, including the car involved in the crash, had been uninsured.
Acting IFI chief executive Barry Fox told Mr Kenny the organisation did not knowingly provide false documentation to gardaí but the insurance certificate presented was not valid.
IFI field services manager Michael Cusack said the organisation was told in November 2021 by its insurer that it was not accepting liability. He said the agency did not engage with gardaí as it was not aware of any legal obligation to do so.
“So you allowed a staff member to receive a summons from An Garda Síochána in relation to no insurance even though you were acutely aware of the fact that the vehicle itself was not insured,” said Mr Kenny.
He maintained an external investigator’s report commissioned by the former minister based on a protected disclosure had been given to the IFI board last February.
Mr Fox said he had no sight of this report or its findings.
Mr Kenny said the report was also now on the desk of the Garda Commissioner.
Following a break in proceedings Mr Fox said he had subsequently been informed the board had received the report in February and its audit and risk committee had been tasked to examine it.
He said the group accepted IFI had no insurance on the vehicle but refuted a finding that knowingly allowed an employee to present (false) insurance details to gardaí.
Mr Fox told Mr Geoghegan the board refuted the finding of the external investigator because it could clearly demonstrate when it became aware of the issue regarding insurance cover.
“How can you say that with such confidence when before you left the room you did not know anything about this protected disclosure or the report?” Mr Geoghegan said.
Mr Geoghegan asked Mr Fox whether he had attended the February board meeting. Mr Fox said he had.
“Are you joking me? You were at the board meeting when the report was notified to the board?” asked Mr Geoghegan
“I had no sight of the report,” responded Mr Fox.
“Why did you tell the committee the you knew nothing about the report when you were at the board meeting when this report was notified to it?” asked Mr Geoghegan.
“I was not aware of the detail of the report at the time,” answered Mr Fox.
Towards the very end of the committee hearing Suzanne Campion, IFI head of finance, said she had prepared a document for the board in February regarding the external investigator’s report. She apologised and said she had been confused earlier about what issue was being discussed.
