Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

As I have previously stated on the record of the House, an independent investigation into allegations of bullying and harassment and related matters in Waterways Ireland was carried out jointly in 2005 on behalf of my Department and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland. A joint statement on behalf of the Departments was issued on 4 April 2005 regarding the findings of the investigators' report, including actions to be taken arising from it.

As the Departments' statement is too long to read out in the time available to me to answer a priority question, I have arranged for a copy to be made available to the Deputy. The key point is that a substantial number of allegations were made and these were thoroughly investigated. The outcome of the investigations, as clearly stated in the Departments' statement at the time, is that the bulk of allegations made by the complainant were not upheld. The investigators made a single recommendation to the effect that an independent review of the practices and policies relating to bullying in the organisation should be carried out. In addition, the Departments agreed that two further actions arising from the report of the investigators should be implemented. First, that an arrangement be made for further courses in relation to bullying for all members of staff, including the CEO, building on the considerable work that had been carried out in the organisation, under the personal direction of the CEO and, second, that an open and transparent policy on recruitment and promotion be followed in all future appointments and promotions.

All of the actions were delivered by the CEO to the satisfaction of the two Departments.

See this speech in context