Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 22 June 2017

Public Accounts Committee

University College Cork and University of Limerick: Financial Statements

9:00 am

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----and its reputation is critically compromised.

The institute stands accused of bullying, of marginalisation, of victimisation, of malpractice and of misleading this committee. Professor Fitzgerald stated that his colleague, Mr. Field, gave incomplete evidence. That is not what he did. Mr. Field deliberately misled the committee. I am in a position to say this because, as it happens, I was the person who put the question in respect of severance to him. I do not feel that he was incomplete in the response he gave to me. I believe that he misled me and, more importantly, misled the committee.

Not alone that, we also know that Mr. Foy, to whom I have already referred, misled the Department. We know, courtesy of RTE Investigates, that HR director Tommy Foy, in respect of excessive severance payments, spoke of two individuals who I have no option but to name. They have been named publicly - Mr. Fox and Mr. Coughlan. He spun a yarn to the Department saying that these additional moneys were good value, based on legal advice and to avoid a potential dismissal. He told them a story about conflicts and relationships breaking down, which both of these individuals categorically refute. It is pretty serious, is it not?