AIBP pays €3.8m to settle epic beef dispute

ALLIED Irish Beef Processors has paid the Government €3.8 million in settlement of a dispute arising from court cases which looked at irregularities in the group’s operation of the Beef Intervention Scheme.

The irregularities included the non-declaration of intervention beef during deboning, and irregular activities during canning operations in the 1990s, for which the Government took the group to court.

These cases have now been settled and payment has been made by AIBP to Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh, largely in respect of the disputed meat in the two main cases, Shannon Meats and AIBP Rathkeale.

Payments for deboning of beef, withheld by the minister from AIBP since 1991 pending resolution of these actions, and payment in respect of an unrelated case involving an AIBP plant in Donegal, are now being released. These two payments total €0.94m.

A statement from the minister yesterday said the agreements had been approved by the Government on the basis of the legal advice given by counsel and the Attorney General, bringing to an end seven years of litigation.

The irregularities came to light during the Beef Tribunal, which ran for two years from 1991 to 1993.

The tribunal found at the time that the Goodman Group, which owns AIBP, was guilty of flagrantly fraudulent activities at its plant in Rathkeale, Co Limerick.

It also stressed that Goodman plants were guilty of widespread tax evasion, with many plants offering employees under-the-counter payments.

However, it rejected claims that Larry Goodman himself knew what was going on.

A statement issued on behalf of Irish Food Processors, a subsidiary of the AIBP group, said it was clear from “sworn and uncontraverted evidence” given to the Beef Tribunal that Mr Goodman and senior group executives were unaware of the irregularities at the Rathkeale plant and that they did not condone any such activities.

“Mr Larry Goodman, in his evidence to the tribunal, undertook to repay the appropriate compensation arising from any irregularities in Rathkeale. The company wrote to the Department of Agriculture in October 1995, again confirming this position,” the statement said.

It also said the amount was agreed by both parties’ respective legal teams.

“This agreement will avoid a costly and time-consuming hearing,” it said.

It added that since these events, AIBP had carried out an in-depth review of its controls and has put in place revised procedures and compliance arrangements.