Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

Inland Fisheries Ireland was established in 2010 amalgamating the previous regional fisheries boards with the Central Fisheries Board. Its remit is to protect, manage and conserve Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea-angling resources. IFI's income in 2021 amounted to €31.7 million. This was down from €36.9 million in 2020. Approximately three quarters of the income comes from Exchequer grant funding and the grant income was down in 2021 mainly to reduce IFI’s high cash balance at the end of 2020.

IFI’s expenditure in 2021 amounted to €36.8 million and this was up from €33.9 million in 2020. More than 70% of expenditure, or €26.6 million, was in respect of remuneration and other pay costs. Some €8.6 million was spent on operations with €1.6 million spent on administration.

I certified the 2021 financial statements on 29 March 2023 and issued a clear audit opinion. However, I drew attention to a number of items in my audit report. First, I drew attention to certain governance concerns. The chairperson of the IFI board resigned in April 2022. A new chairperson was appointed in May 2022 and resigned in January 2023. There were a further four resignations from the board during 2022 and in January 2023. As a result, the board became unable to reach the required quorum to meet and to make decisions, including approval of the annual financial statements. In February 2023, the remaining board members were removed by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications on a no-fault basis. Two persons were appointed for a period of up to six months to perform the functions of IFI pending the reconstitution of the board.

A number of disclosures were made in 2022 to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and to IFI. These disclosures resulted in the commissioning of a succession of reviews and reports. The statement on internal control outlines the status of these reviews at the date of signing of the financial statements. Following one internal review, the chief executive reported a potential fraud to An Garda Síochána in 2022. Due to an administration error, 16 vehicles leased by IFI in 2021 were uninsured for a period. The matter only came to light when one of the vehicles was involved in a road traffic accident. IFI anticipates that legal action may be taken against it over the incident. The financial liability accruing from the accident was uncertain at the time the audit was being signed off.

Finally, I drew attention to a change in the chief executive’s normal place of work from IFI’s headquarters in Donegal to the regional office in Ballyshannon in November 2021. This has implications for the claiming of expenses by the chief executive. We found no contemporaneous written record of the proposal for the work location change, or of its financial implications or of a decision in that regard by the board, which is responsible for setting the terms and conditions of the chief executive.

The number and complexity of the issues that have arisen in IFI contributed to a delay in the completion of the audit of the 2021 annual financial statements. The audit of the 2022 annual financial statements is currently in progress and I expect earlier completion of that work. Separately, my office is further examining a number of control and value-for-money issues in IFI and I may present a report on any significant findings from that work, if that is warranted.