Mick Clifford: Inland Fisheries Ireland’s litany of issues is like ‘RTÉ without the celebrities’
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Last year, RTÉ’s travails dominated so much attention in the body politic that the toils of another public body went completely under the radar. Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has been drowning in questions about the use of public money.
One parliamentarian last year described it as “RTÉ without the celebrities”. Another suggested the body was “halfway between Balllymagash and Killinaskully.”
Beyond the bon mots, there is a serious issue about public money, governance of a State agency, and how all of that has affected the vital work IFI is engaged in.
IFI is charged with the protection of the State’s 74,000km of rivers and streams, along with 128,000 hectares of lakes. The task includes protection from pollution and illegal fishing.
One example of the importance of this work is reflected in the depletion of salmon stocks over the last 20 years. Between 1975 and 2022, the number of wild salmon inhabiting our lakes and rivers fell from 1.76m to 171,700, a drop of almost 90%.
IFI is responsible for protecting what’s there and attempts to restock.
The agency was formed in 2010 by amalgamating seven regional fisheries boards. To that extent, there are parallels with the HSE. In 2022, the last year for which there are published accounts, the agency had an income of just over €40m and a staff complement of 320.
Last month, the 'Irish Examiner' reported that 55 cases taken by the IFI, mainly for fish kill pollutions, were or will be abandoned. This figure, supplied at the time by IFI, has now increased to 61.
This effectively provides impunity to polluters. The issue arose over an internal failure in which delegation to initiate prosecutions within the agency was not properly done. Already some who were convicted and fined in prosecutions are having their convictions set aside.
One fish kill for which a prosecution had to be withdrawn was in Skibbereen and another was in Bandon, both in West Cork.
The Dáil public accounts committee (PAC) was told that a major one involved the River Rye in Kildare. Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy said she was very familiar with that fish kill, as a large effort had been put into conserving and rejuvenating the river.
“Some 500 mortalities of wild stock trout and other fish species were noted,” she told the PAC. “It will take years for the river to recover because of its wild stock.
“It is very difficult to build confidence for those people who put that effort into the river to ensure it is in pristine condition.
The total cost in public money of the invalidated and discontinued prosecutions has yet to be determined.
That is only one of a number of separate issues that arose internally in IFI. Most of these came to light in 2022, but some predate that time.
In 2022, 10 protected disclosures were submitted to IFI about governance and management issues. Eight of these were deemed worthy of pursuit. Consultancy firm RSM was retained to investigate many of the issues.
Before that, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan appointed a senior counsel to examine issues that arose between the board and the CEO. A number of board members resigned throughout 2022 into 2023. In February of that year, Mr Ryan dissolved the board — which had been depleted to just two members — and appointed two individuals to perform the function of the board under what is known as a Section 18 appointment. A new board was ultimately put in place in January this year.
In 2016, there was a proposal before the board of IFI to let the property, which included two holiday cottages, in the private market.
A number of tenders were received. Ultimately, the tender that was forwarded to the board for approval was from an employee of IFI.
This was not the highest tender and is believed to have actually been the lowest of four. The board rejected the recommendation on the basis that it was not the highest tender and the bidder was an employee.
The tender went to the highest bidder. He ran the lodge for a year but his contract was not renewed. At that point, the board decided that it might be best to sell the lodge.
Some time after that, the employee who had tendered for it was allowed to rent out the lodge and holiday cottages. This was done without the knowledge of the board. When this started is unclear but it continued until 2021 as IFI was attempting to sell the property.
There is an allegation that one other IFI employee holidayed at the resort while this arrangement was in place. The whole arrangement only came to the attention of the board when repair work was required and was expected to be funded by the IFI rather than the employee who was benefiting from the sublet.
The RSM investigation examined this matter. In the 2022 annual report, the investigation is referenced thus: “Limited information available on the tender process for awarding the contract to an IFI staff member because of a missing relevant file.”
The investigation found there were “shortcomings in the tender process with increased risk of lack of competitiveness of awarding the contract to a staff member”.
This meant there was a risk of “lack of achievement of vest value for money and “lack of awareness regarding proper management of conflicts of interests.”
The change of base meant that expenses could be accrued by, for instance, the CEO travelling from his base to the IFI headquarters in Citywest in Dublin.
Mr O’Donnell told the PAC members that “it was agreed at that time by the chairperson and the head of HR”.
The IFI’s then chairman Fintan Gorman has written to the PAC to complain that this statement is inaccurate, and was repeated a number of times during that meeting.
His correspondence points out that there is no written record of agreement in any board meeting and he has no record of any even any conversation about it, which of itself, would have had no standing anyway.
In April 2023, the arrangement came to an end. The estimate of enhanced expenses that accrued from the move, as related to the PAC, was in the region of €5,400.
According to the IFI’s 2022 annual report, this matter has now been resolved: “The CEO’s base has reverted to Citywest in Dublin and CEO has repaid subsistence of €1,041 to reflect base at Citywest”.
There is no explanation as to the remainder of the expenses that were paid over the period that the CEO treated Ballyshannon as his base.
This matter was explored with Mr O’Donnell at the PAC in July last year. Prior to a scheduled subsequent meeting, the PAC was told Mr O’Donnell was unavailable due to illness. In response to questions from the , a spokesperson for IFI said “the CEO is on leave”. As to the reason for that leave, the spokesperson said, “IFI has a duty of care to all employees not to disclose personal information about them”.
The spokesperson added that “there are no outstanding amounts due from the CEO” in relation to the change of base. An interim CEO is currently in charge.
Later, this turned out not to be the case. The manager in question left IFI in September 2021 before most of the issues were crystallised. For some time, a junior employee was blamed for the problem but it was to turn out she had no responsibility for the matter at all.
The 2022 annual report referred to the matter, confirming the accident and the uninsured vehicles. “IFI has updated its insurance policy and a new procedure is in place to prevent any future re-occurrence. IFI awaits the outcome of legal proceedings with regard to this matter.”
According to a spokesperson for IFI, two claims relating to the accident have yet to be processed so a final cost is not yet quantifiable. Legal costs so far have been €38,000.
Some point to fact that, prior to the establishment of the current Government, IFI came under the remit of a junior minister who could provide closer oversight. In the current administration, IFI is under the remit of the Department of Environment and Climate Change senior minister, Eamon Ryan. The department rejects any contention that political oversight has lessened as a result.
“Minister Ryan has taken an active role in dealing with policy and regulatory matters relating to the inland fisheries sector, including IFI, and will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.
The board is now fully reconstituted with a full complement of 10 members.
Whether the issues that arose have all been dealt with or whether a new culture now exists within the agency will only become apparent over the coming months and years.
One of the more bizarre matters involving Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) in recent years was the treatment of one of its employees.
Pat Gorman worked for Inland Fisheries Ireland and its predecessor organisation for 37 years.
He began with the Western Regional Fisheries Board in 1985, and transferred to Inland Fisheries Ireland on its establishment in 2010.
He was based in Cong, Mayo, and had advanced to the position of inspector by 2022.
He had an excellent work record. All his business was carried out from his home — a not unusual arrangement.
Mr Gorman’s brother Fintan was a board member of Inland Fisheries Ireland and, in 2022, was serving as chairperson.
At 4pm on February 1, 2022, Pat Gorman received a call from his line manager to go to the Cong hatchery.
When he got there, his manager Greg Forde and CEO Francis O’Donnell were waiting for him.
He was told that CEO had received an anonymous letter, which was being treated as a protected disclosure, alleging that Mr Gorman kept a work tractor on his property and was availing of it for private use.
He was floored. He had the tractor, his manager knew that. He says he didn’t use it for private purposes. Despite that, the CEO told him he was being suspended pending investigation. He was told not to contact staff, be on work sites, and to return the tractor.
He believed he was being instructed to return the tractor that day, so he went to his farm to collect it.
“He brought his son with him. His son is a very capable driver,” according to a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) report on the matter.
Mr Gorman’s son, a teenager, drove the tractor to the Cong hatchery with him driving his car in front of the tractor with the hazard lights on.
He admitted that letting his son drive the tractor was a “massive error of judgement, but he was under huge stress at the time”.
Later, he made a second error.
He had a tip-off that there was some poaching afoot on Lough Mask. Instinctively, he went to investigate.
Now there were three incidents for which he was to be investigated, two of which occurred after he was suspended.
During the subsequent investigation, the CEO asked to speak to the investigator about the matter off the record. The investigator refused, considering to do so would undermine the investigation. Following the investigation, Mr Gorman was subjected to a disciplinary process.
After which, he was dismissed.
The main reason was allowing his son to drive the tractor.
He brought an action for unfair dismissal to the WRC. Despite being central to the whole affair, Mr O’Donnell didn’t give evidence. Three other management figures did on behalf of the company.
The WRC adjudicator found that Mr Gorman’s suspension was “punitive and unfair”, and that came “on the back of an anonymous letter”. The adjudicator ruled:
The ruling went on to note that the CEO’s failure to give evidence or even attend the hearing “has left large gaps” in the company’s case. The adjudicator said he had no account of why the CEO suspended Mr Gorman.
“I can see no reason why this step was necessary,” he ruled.
“It is clear that the CEO sought to influence the investigation off the record.
“He explicitly asked to speak with the investigator privately. The investigator is to be commended for refusing to facilitate this, and in recording the request.”
The dismissal was deemed unfair, but the issues that arose with the teenager driving the tractor and working while suspended ultimately reduced the award from a year’s pay by half to approximately €38,000. The company did not appeal the ruling.