Mr. Francis O'Donnell:

Gabhaim buíochas as ucht an deis a bheith i láthair anseo inniu chun aon cheisteanna cuí a bhfuil baint acu le hIascach Intíre Éireann agus an ráiteas airgeadais don bhliain 2021 a fhreagairt. I dtús báire, cuirfidh mé in iúl don choiste go bhfuil sé ar intinn ag Iascach Intíre Éireann a bheith oscailte agus go dtí an pointe inniu. Muna bhfuil muid ábalta ceisteanna a fhreagairt, tabharfaidh muid freagraí i bhfoirm scríofa chomh luath agus is féidir. I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it today and discuss our annual report for 2021 and financial statements.

I am joined by supporting witnesses: Mr. Barry Fox, head of operations; Ms Suzanne Campion, head of finance and corporate services; Dr. Cathal Gallagher, head of research and development; and Ms Róisín Bradley, head of human resources. I will keep my remarks to some overarching topics and relevant issues regarding the financial statements and accounts for 2021.

We are a team of just over 300 full-time staff comprising fisheries protection staff, development staff, environmental officers, research staff and, very importantly, an excellent administrative back-up team. I am very grateful to our passionate and accomplished employees, who see their roles as a vocation. Many have given decades of dedicated public service to Inland Fisheries Ireland, and are national and international specialists in their respective fields.

In 2021, our protection and environmental teams were extremely active in addressing illegal fishing, pollution incidents, fish kills and habitat destruction in and around freshwater systems across Ireland. IFI delivered over 167,000 hours of anti-poaching patrolling activities. We concluded 82 cases for fisheries offences and commenced a further 103 cases in 2021. We also concluded 23 cases for environmental offences and commenced a further 13 cases in the same period. Most of the latter were associated with fish kills and serious water pollution incidents.

In 2021, IFI carried out river habitat restoration on 21 km of river channel, treated 11 ha of lake infested with lagarosiphon, an alien invasive aquatic plant species that has serious ecological impacts and may spread to other water bodies, and carried out maintenance on 34 km of river channel habitat. In the same year IFI staff audited 2,800 angler access structures and carried out maintenance on 510 structures to ensure the public were safe. This is just a snapshot of what we did in 2021.

IFI, like all public service organisations, must adhere to the highest standards in governance. IFI has made governance mistakes which have overshadowed the excellent public service we provide. The shortcomings in terms of good governance, for which we apologise today, were not deliberate and not deceitful in any way. Today we welcome this opportunity to explain the causes of these issues, and provide the requisite background and context to the committee. It is important for the public to know this.

Following extensive internal reviews of processes and procedures, and associated remedial action, IFI is operating within a very strong corporate governance environment. The external governance review of IFI will commence shortly and our section 18 board appointees are overseeing this process. This will strengthen IFI governance processes to a very high standard.

Separately, but in addition to these significant operational risks, we discovered alleged fraud within IFI in 2022 which is now subject to a criminal investigation by An Garda Síochána. I believe this occurred over a significant amount of time in Inland Fisheries Ireland but does not pertain to any serving staff member of IFI. The investigation also relates to the harassment and intimidation of the executive over a 17-month period. This has taken its toll on colleagues across IFI. I will endeavour to brief the committee to the best of my ability on this issue. As this is the subject of a live Garda investigation, I will remain cautious on this matter.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is overstretched and has been for a long time. Since 2009 our staffing complement has been reduced by 30%. We have statutory responsibility for Ireland’s 74,000 km of rivers and streams, together with 128,000 ha of lake systems. We patrol a coastline of 9,700 km and patrol the marine environment out to 12 nautical miles from the base lines. Our area of operation is extensive. We face significant operational challenges, especially the lack of staffing in specialist areas, which impedes our ability to respond more effectively and efficiently to the pressing needs of an environmental agency in an ever-changing ecological world.

These challenges are not an excuse for mistakes that have been made. The challenges are however a reality. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has stated that IFI needs to be “adequately resourced” to “build and sustain capacity for both existing functions and an enhanced role.” The year 2021 was very challenging for IFI due to Covid-19 restrictions, and the last 18 months have been equally difficult for the organisation. Climate change, the pollution of our water bodies, the destruction of freshwater and terrestrial habitats, the proliferation of non-native invasive species and the impacts of aquaculture on migrating salmonids is making our role extremely challenging as an environmental organisation.

I was born in 1971. Wild salmon numbers returning to Ireland in that year were 1.2 million. In 2022 that number was reduced to 171,000, which represents a reduction of 86%. Arctic charr, a species that was encountered by the first inhabitants of this island, is now extinct from Lough Conn, County Mayo and faces a similar fate in other lake systems. The freshwater eels that were once prolific in the streams we played in as children are now facing extinction. Wild brown trout lakes across Ireland are disappearing due to the introduction of non-native species and the pollution associated with excessive farming practices.

IFI must be expanded and strengthened so we can deliver on all that is required of us by extant national legislation and the ever-increasing burdens of EU directives and regulations. Those regulations serve to protect nature. Nature has no voice other than the human one.

I am very proud of the progressive and innovative work we do, and the value it gives to the State, to our citizens and to the resource we protect. IFI could not do this without our committed staff, stakeholder support and the excellent support we receive daily from our parent Department, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

I and my team will address the committee members' oral questions and will share with them any written information they request in this session at the first available opportunity. I thank members for their attention this morning.