Results 6,761-6,780 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I appointed a senior counsel to carry out a major investigation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There is a system for managing protected disclosures and it is important-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: As I said, in my understanding, a lot of the concerns and other accusations were submitted as protected disclosures and they had to be managed in a way that was appropriate and fair to all sides.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: No. I gave every opportunity, with the appointment of that senior counsel, for a review to be conducted, with the recommendations of that review taken with a view to examining whether the board could work its way through the difficulties. Earlier this year, however, it became abundantly clear that was not possible and that, in those circumstances, the provision of section 18 of the Act...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The board had seen five resignations, including two chairpersons. To return to what Senator Kyne said, that is not usual or normal. On top of the media commentary on the issue, none of this is normal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I have not said one word in that vein to one person about any member of the board, whether outgoing or previous to that. There has been enough of that and it is better to take out some of that political commentary and ensure we return the institution to functioning effectively. I have no intention of in any way demeaning them or depicting them in a bad light.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There are no consequences, in my mind, for any member of the board. My officials are rightly indicating to me that any member could apply for reappointment to the board.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: My response is similar to what I said to Deputy Whitmore. It is when the fish are floating you often know you have a problem. It is hard to gauge for an average person. I keep coming back to the point that the angling community are probably some of the most passionate people about protecting our rivers and systems. It is a large community of people monitoring who we can turn to for help....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: At that stage, I felt the best approach was to appoint a senior counsel to try to assess what could be done and to follow that approach. He wrote a very good report, in my opinion, which set out a path. Having lost a further three members and a chair, I thought it was appropriate to speak to the outgoing chair, having tried every other mechanism.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I would not rule it out. I am not going out of my way to. My focus is on having the new board appointed and getting the governance review done. I am not committing to meeting anyone. I do not want to set myself as the judge and jury and go back to speak to every person involved in this whole process. That is a matter for others.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am not impugning anyone in that regard. I may have said earlier in my contribution that there were relationships not just within the board but between the board and management, clearly. There was a lot of public and political commentary. It is wider in terms of people with different views on what was happening. Me adding to that by weighing in and trying to act as an arbiter would not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Three further resignations took place and the assessment of the outgoing chair was that they had not been able to deliver what Mr. Conleth Bradley's report suggested.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: It was a very long statement at the start. I must admit, in the middle of the process, I was being handed accusations, often in the Chamber, within the Oireachtas.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: If I could finish, it might answer the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I felt that it was very sensitive. I must say, as Minister, I was conscious that you have to handle it in a professional, proper manner. In that instance, that was to hand it to the relevant officials in my Department who are designated to try to ascertain whether something is or is not a protected disclosure and how best to approach it. This was not normal correspondence. It was not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I do. This has not been easy. Regarding the issues raised in the last year and a half or so, I am not sure they go back into the depths of time at Inland Fisheries Ireland. There are, no doubt, many issues. The particular difficulties arose in prominence, in my opinion, in the last two years or year and a half. On the difficulties between the board of management, they are not something...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There are immediate statutory obligations, as in respect of the accounts mentioned by the Senator earlier on. But, as I have said, there are two primary issues I have asked them to look at as a priority. One is to ensure that all protected disclosures in hand would be progressed and, second, that the review of the governance would be concluded. I expect that that would be done within a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Our Department is reviewing some of the protected disclosures and, as I said, IFI is reviewing others. They each have been headed up to manage that and our Department has mechanisms for doing that. We have direct responsibility and will conclude that work. With respect to governance, we also have a role. If Mr. Barry or Mr. Neely come back to me, having conducted that report and see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Inland Fisheries Ireland: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (7 Mar 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will look at that to see but I do not believe it is.