Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being here. The debate has been a long time coming. I understand that he has a busy schedule and could not come before now. I acknowledge that Senator Kyne has done an enormous amount of work on this. I have subsequently been involved in this because staff and other individuals have contacted me and shared with me really disturbing information. There is a litany of failures, of which I know the Minister is fully aware. I will ask the Minister questions and put to him strong assertions on a number of issues. I will stop short of describing IFI as rotten and corrupt. Those words were used by other politicians; I will not use them. It is important to say clearly that inland fisheries are an integral part of the agricultural landscape and are closely linked with food production, water, land management, biodiversity and ecosystems.

Following the resignation of the board of IFI, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, removed the remaining board members on a no-fault basis. That is clear. The decision was taken due to, as the Department states in a formal release I have in front of me, the inability of IFI to carry out its functions effectively.

I will tell the Minister about a litany of problems of which, I am satisfied, he and his officials are fully aware. I have the documentation in front of me to support that.

Let us deal in a broad way with resignations from the board and internal disputes rife with allegations. Eighteen vehicles were uninsured, with one involved in a serious crash in County Donegal in 2021. There was an issue around IFI ownership of a property, Aasleagh Lodge, in County Mayo, and its use subsequently with the knowledge of some members of the board. There were funding issues around the dormant accounts and issues relating to the allocation of funding and the appropriateness of that allocation. Again, that was brought to the Minister's attention. There were disputes around HR, personnel and administration. There was harassment and systemic bullying. There were irregularities of internal processes.

Some of these issues have been dealt with in protected disclosures. My latest analysis of this is that there are up seven or eight protected disclosures of which the Minister and his Department are aware. I understand that the Minister informed the Cabinet because the resignations included that of the chairperson of IFI. He was unable to carry out his functions effectively. The Minister instructed Mr. Tom Barry and Mr. Séamus Neely, both former chief executives of local authorities, to prioritise consideration of the protected disclosures, and that is understandable. Preparation of a corporate governance review was also one of his requests.

I looked at the Government press releases on this and all the appointments to IFI over many years. I draw the Minister's attention to an announcement published on the Government website on Tuesday, 4 June 2019, regarding three appointments to the board of IFI. They were announced that day by the then Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Seán Canney. The press release stated that he had recently appointed Mr. Séamus Boland, Mr. Michael McGreal and Ms Marie Louise Heffernan to the board of Inland Fisheries Ireland. We know that two of them have subsequently resigned and that one was removed from office by the Minister. In welcoming these appointments at the time, the then Minister of State said: "These successful candidates will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the board of IFI". The press release went on to state that Mr. Boland and Mr. McGreal in particular had areas of expertise in corporate governance, organisational development and change management and that Ms Heffernan had expertise in environmental and biodiversity matters. These were therefore eminently suitable people for the board and were rightly appointed to it. All three appointments were made, I have found out today from checking some facts, pursuant to section 12 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 and in accordance with State appointments guidelines. That is not always the case, but in these three cases it was.

What am I asking of the Minister? He is ultimately responsible. The question that remains outstanding, however, is as follows. Why, in his term of two and a half years as Minister, has he never sought to appoint anyone to the board? I understand that he might decide he has a hands-off view on this, but that is the question many people are asking. What is he doing about it? What has he not done about it? Why did he not exercise his obligations under the legislation to appoint new members to the board who he felt might be more appropriate? That is his prerogative. He did not exercise it and he is empowered under the legislation to do so. He did not do that, but perhaps he will have an opportunity to explain.

The Minister needs to insist and ensure that there is good corporate governance in this organisation under his remit. The oversight agreement and performance delivery agreement, which I have yet to see, require, under the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, that an oversight agreement is drawn up between the Department and IFI. I ask him to look out for that and to familiarise himself with that. I want responsibility and accountability. I want an appropriate explanation of the allocations of the budgets and resources of IFI. That is what the people involved want, that is what the employees want and that is what they expect Deputy Eamon Ryan to drive as Minister with ultimate responsibility in this area.

I take it the Minister is familiar with the code of business conduct for the board of IFI. He should be if he is not. There is the issue of integrity, transparency and public concern. That is my role here, particularly today. There has been a loss of confidence in the board. There have been potential conflicts of interest, whether actual or perceived. Then, of course, there is the huge issue of the protected disclosures.

There is a lot in all that to go over in a few minutes. I ask the Minister to initiate an exit interview with all the directors who have resigned and to facilitate a position where each and every one of them can articulate their views. I do not expect him to come back here today with the detail of the questions I have asked. I do expect and respectfully ask him to come back with some sort of written engagement with Members at some point. He has said that he has to get out of here as he has a Cabinet subcommittee meeting to go to. I appreciate and respect that. Finally, I thank him for at last giving this matter the time in Seanad Éireann that it deserved.