Ombudsman disputes Fahey’s evidence

THE Ombudsman has disputed evidence given by former minister and Fianna Fáil backbench TD Frank Fahey to an Oireachtas committee in the latest development in a stand-off between the Government and the watchdog’s office.

The Irish Examiner understands that Emily O’Reilly has taken the unusual step of writing to the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries expressing concerns over the accuracy of evidence given by the Galway West TD on his handling of a grant scheme for fishermen when he was Marine Minister in 2001.

The committee is examining a report by the Ombudsman on the Lost at Sea scheme, carried out on foot of a complaint from the Byrne family in Donegal who lost family members at sea and claimed they were unfairly denied compensation.

The report has been referred to the committee because the Government is refusing to accept its findings – the second time in history this has happened.

Mr Fahey claimed at last week’s meeting the Ombudsman had misunderstood “the entire point” of why the Byrne family were not entitled to compensation, which he said was because they were not involved in fishing at the time it was introduced.

But Ms O’Reilly wrote to the committee this week saying this was not correct and the scheme did not include any such condition.

Tom Moran, secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, told yesterday’s committee this was a factor but not the “primary consideration” in why the Byrnes were refused, which was they applied a year after the closing date for applications.

If the department accepted Ms O’Reilly’s recommendations to award compensation 10 years on, then the floodgates would open for claims in other schemes, he said.

Fine Gael Senator, Eugene Regan, said the department had been “bullied” into devising the scheme by Mr Fahey while Labour’s Sean Sherlock suggested there were “strident attempts to prevent the scheme coming into existence in the first place”. Mr Moran said there were “views for and against” but it was “ultimately a ministerial decision”.

Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty claimed Mr Fahey has asked to meet department officials before the scheme was set up to discuss how it would apply “particularly to his constituents”.

One constituent, Tony Fahery from the Aran Islands, was granted tonnage compensation even though he had acquired another boat which was in breach of the criteria, according to Mr Doherty who said “the Attorney General advised at a later stage the tonnage should not have been awarded”.

Mr Fahey disputed this: “I never asked officials to introduce a scheme for two constituents,” he said.

Mr Moran said he had “no basis for believing” the scheme was set up to suit Mr Fahey’s constituents.