Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Senator Malachai O'Hara and his mum to the Chamber. They are very welcome. I also congratulate Deputy Simon Harris on his election as Taoiseach and all Ministers who have taken up new or reshuffled positions in Cabinet or as Ministers of State. I also pay tribute to the outgoing Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, for his support and friendship over the years.

The Committee of Public Accounts was scheduled to further examine the affairs of Inland Fisheries Ireland on 7 March but, unfortunately, the CEO became ill and, because he is the chief Accounting Officer, the meeting had to be postponed. I understand that he will not be available for the reconvened meeting. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope it was nothing I said. I also welcome the appointment of Dr. Cathal Gallagher as interim CEO.

Events continue to roll on in IFI and there are now three questions of public interest that the CEO, the board, the chair and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, must address. The first is the issue of several disclosures accompanied by documentary evidence regarding the senior appointment in Galway submitted to the Minister, the Department of the environment and the IFI board in late 2022. To its credit, the IFI board attempted to start an external investigation in January 2023 but the members were removed, that is, sacked, on a no-fault basis by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, before they could launch an investigation. The section 18 appointees who replaced the board eventually hired RSM to conduct an investigation but, significantly, the subject of the investigation, one of the respondents, remained in position while the investigation proceeded. This is in stark contrast to an earlier case that resulted in an unfavourable WRC decision for Inland Fisheries Ireland.

RSM recently presented its report on this serious matter to IFI. I was refused a copy of this report even though I was a complainant. A former employee who is a respondent was denied a copy because he is a former employee. The ironic, sad and pathetic thing here is that the former employee is only a former employee because IFI unfairly dismissed him. He won his case at the WRC, which commented very unfavourably on the conduct of the chief executive officer, as I put on the record here. The taxpayer paid for this report and, while the procedure was flawed, the outcome is surely in the public interest. Surely staff, failed applicants for promotion within Inland Fisheries Ireland and the public have a right to know how appointments are made to posts paid for by taxpayers.

I am asking for a copy of the RSM report into protected disclosures. If I cannot get it, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, needs to step up and get it. He has shown scant interest in inland fisheries in his tenure. He is busy doing other things. There is no Minister of State with responsibility for this area. Let the Minister step up now, get a copy of the report from RSM and have it published. There can be no secrecy. There has been enough secrecy, duplicity and everything else in respect of inland fisheries for many years. It is now time to end it and there is only one person who can do that, the Minister, Deputy Ryan. There are two other issues associated with this matter that I will raise another day. I and others are sick of it. I am sick of the secrecy. We have a new board and a new chair. I want that report published.