Minister acts against salmon firm
The Minister also agreed in principle that someone who has broken environmental law should not be a board member of a State agency with an environmental remit.
Marine Institute board member John O’Carroll is a director of ISPG - the largest salmon export company in Ireland - and owns a salmon farm in the Connemara Gaeltacht area of Co Galway.
But Mr O’Carroll’s firm was named on RTE’s Prime Time last week as being responsible for the burial of bags of fish carcasses in a bog in Casla in Connemara.
According to the RTE current affairs programme, the dumping was investigated by Galway County Council and the gardaí and, as far as the authorities are concerned, Mr O’Carroll’s firm was responsible.
The dumping raised major concerns about possible contamination of ground water in the region and the investigation is still ongoing.
Minister Ahern says he knew about the case before it appeared on television, but won't divulge details of the action he took.
“I’m very aware of the circumstances. It had been brought to my attention some time back and I have taken some action in that respect,” he said.
The Minister also agreed that anyone guilty of breaches of the environmental laws should not sit on a board of a State organisation responsible for protecting the environment.
“In the interests of fairness, I have to be somewhat careful in what I say, but as a general principle, I would entirely agree that - and I don’t say this in relation to this case, because I think that those facts have to be proven - but as a general principle, of course anyone who is guilty of any wrongdoing should not be on any board that would be involved in that area,” he said. Mr O’Carroll was appointed to the Marine Institute board for a five-year term in 2001 by former Minister for the Marine Frank Fahey, who is a TD in the Galway West constituency, which includes the Connemara area.
Warning against tarring the entire fish farming industry with the one brush, Minister Ahern said that he has been assured by his staff the regulation, inspection and investigation regime in the sector is rigorous.
