This confirmed a story that had appeared in the Irish Examiner three days previously. 

Ms Kenny wasn’t named in the Walsh statement but she was easily identifiable. 

This inquiry took place months ago but very little is known about how it was commissioned, what its terms of reference were, or how it reached its conclusions. 

Conflict of interest

All we were told was it had concluded Ms Kenny “had no case to answer” in relation to a serious allegation of a conflict of interest. 

In a milieu where An Bord Pleanála's reputation has taken a battering, and a former senior member of the board, Paul Hyde, may face criminal charges over conflicts of interest, the inquiry, and Mr Walsh’s handling of it, is highly unlikely to enhance public confidence.

A quick recap. On October 24, the Irish Examiner began publishing details of a confidential internal report in ABP which dealt with the myriad of allegations that have emerged about conflicts of interest, lapsed standards, and misgovernance. 

This investigation was announced last May and began soon after. All of the original allegations in The Ditch website and the Irish Examiner were based on public documents.

Some of the allegations featured Ms Kenny. 

These included that she had potentially displayed bias when speaking at two developer conferences, she may have a conflict of interest in cases she was involved in which were geographically close to her home, and, most serious of all, that she represented ABP in a case where her husband was part of an applicant team for planning permission.

'Matters of concern'

These were raised in the internal report as “matters of concern”, although no names were provided. The geographic issue was the subject of allegations against other ABP employees also. 

However, in relation to the most serious issue, the one involving Ms Kenny’s husband, the internal report noted in the case of a “senior official” and an applicant who was a “person well known” to her, “the team understands that a separate process has been commissioned to look into and report on these allegations”. 

The “team” included chief officer Brid Hill, director of corporate affairs Gerard Egan and head of HR Mary Kelly. 

Quite obviously, these three most senior employees in ABP had been unaware of the commissioning of this separate inquiry as noted in their report.

Last Friday, the chair of ABP, Dave Walsh, confirmed this inquiry referenced in the internal report did exist. He stated he had commissioned it and the outcome was that the “senior official” had no case to answer. The reason for this was that the allegation emerged from “materially inaccurate reporting”, which referenced the original story by The Ditch.

Last Saturday, the Irish Examiner reported that The Ditch website had not been contacted by anybody to suggest its story had been inaccurate and its stands over its story. 

That of itself is quite astounding, but there are other elements to this inquiry commissioned by Mr Walsh that are equally so.

When allegations surfaced about Paul Hyde, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien announced the appointment of a senior counsel to investigate. 

Yet when allegations arose against Ms Kenny, a HR firm was retained to investigate and the public, and apparently even the most senior personnel in ABP, were unaware it was being conducted.

The first issue of note is the company retained to conduct the inquiry, Resolve Ireland, is a perfectly reputable firm. 

Mr Walsh has not responded to a question as to whether he sought three quotes, as required by State rules, before awarding the contract to Resolve Ireland. 

The HR firm’s managing director is Turlough O’Sullivan, who previously was head of Ibec, the business and employers organisation. 

One of Ibec’s divisions is Property Industry Ireland. 

Considering the controversies swirling around ABP centre on whether or not elements in the organisation were more favourable to property interests, one might ask whether it was wise to select Resolve Ireland for such a sensitive matter in the current environment.

When the senior counsel, Remi Farrell, investigated Paul Hyde, the lawyer spoke to personnel in ABP and reportedly took away a large volume of documents, as might be expected. 

As an outsider, Mr Farrell could not be expected to be automatically familiar with ABP’s practices and mores around codes of conduct and obviously made the effort to familiarise himself in order to inform his inquiry.

What we do know of the Resolve Ireland inquiry into Ms Kenny is that the most senior personnel in ABP were unaware that it was being conducted. We do not know how much engagement there was with personnel in An Bord Pleanála, apart from Mr Walsh and Ms Kenny.

Big misunderstanding

All we know is that Resolve Ireland concluded it was all a big misunderstanding attributable to “materially inaccurate reporting”. 

Such reporting, particularly when it involves reputations, inevitably results in an angry missive pointing out the inaccuracy. Usually, such a missive will take the form of a solicitor’s letter. 

Yet The Ditch website has received no communication, either when the story was written last May, or at any time since. 

Neither was it contacted by Resolve Ireland. This again is a strange development.

The Irish Examiner submitted a list of questions to Mr Walsh about the inquiry, what its terms of reference were, who knew about it and how did it reach its conclusions. A spokesperson said Mr Walsh had nothing to add to previous statements.

Ultimately, the buck stops with the minister for housing. He is the political master of ABP and quite obviously wants to do all he can to ensure the restoration of public confidence. 

The Irish Examiner understands he was informed of the outcome of the inquiry into Ms Kenny, but a department spokesperson would not confirm. 

In response to questions, the spokesperson said, “An Bord Pleanála is an independent statutory body. 

"The minister has no role in relation to staff members of the board. The minister appoints board members but not staff members.”

Mr O’Brien publicly appointed a senior counsel to investigate issues that go to the heart of ABP when it concerned a board member. 

Yet, when similar issues arise for a senior staff member the minister is washing his hands.

So the nature of an inquiry into serious allegations about a staff member, which goes to the heart of the independence of ABP, is not of interest to the minister for housing? 

Does the minister consider he has a role to play in restoring public confidence in the board?

Without proper transparency in relation to allegations — most of which have already been found to have substance — there is little chance that the cloud pressing down on ABP will pull away anytime soon.