IFI’s €170k bill for legal cases that were axed
INLAND Fisheries Ireland spent more than €170,000 on legal fees in prosecutions for fisheries offences that were unable to proceed due to an internal error.
Representatives from the controversy-ridden semi-state body were before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday.
IFI CEO Francis O’Donnell did not attend. Deputy chief Dr Cathal Gallagher, who has assumed most of the CEO’s responsibilities, said he was ‘limited’ in what he could say about Mr O’Donnell’s continued absence.
‘What I can say is that the CEO informed the committee directly, before the March meeting, via his personal assistant, of his status as being ill. Since then, all I am able to say is that he is on leave,’ he said.
Mr O’Donnell previously repaid €5,000 in expenses after having his normal place of work moved to Donegal where he lived, instead of where the organisation is headquartered in Dublin.
The PAC was told the IFI was forced to withdraw prosecutions on legal advice about the authorisation of staff to prosecute offences.
IFI head of operations Barry Fox said the delegations from the organisation’s board were not correctly authorised, resulting in the prosecutions being dropped.
‘A number of well-publicised governance concerns
Mr Fox said the issue related to 46 cases, 14 of which were still live, and that he was restricted in what he could say about the issue. He said that so far the legal bill is €170,843.
‘Costs have not been awarded against us in the majority of cases,’ Mr Fox said.
The IFI has been in turmoil for several years. Comptroller and Auditor General Séamus McCarthy told the PAC there ‘have been a number of well-publicised governance concerns’. The Irish Daily Mail previously revealed the IFI had a fleet of 16 uninsured company vehicles on the road, one of which had been involved in a crash. The PAC heard the IFI incurred legal costs of €38,000 as a result of a collision involving an uninsured vehicle.
In March last year, our sister paper The Irish Mail on Sunday revealed gardaí were investigating allegations that former director Pat Gorman used IFI employees and vehicles for private contract work for which he was personally paid.