Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This has been an ongoing issue within my part of the country. The importance of the IFI within its remit of protecting rivers and lakes is enormous, so it is vital we get a resolution to the ongoing challenges relating to governance and accountability within the IFI. There is a significant issue relating to the withdrawal of services within the board of the IFI, but the Minister of State's response to the issues Deputy O'Rourke put to the House was very unsatisfactory. The previous board of the IFI failed to get satisfactory assurance on issues over several months and notified the Comptroller and Auditor General via the annual statements of internal control. To date, accounts have not yet been signed off for 2021. This has been raised at meetings of the Committee of Public Accounts on numerous occasions. At the moment, there is an interim measure, with two former county managers having been appointed. That is very concerning, yet the Minister of State is not giving us confidence that this is being fully addressed. Is an internal or independent investigation going on within the IFI to bring to a head the issues relating to financial and other irregularities within the agency?

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