Farm inspector accused of fraud paid €190k

A FORMER farm inspector who had been accused of fraud in his work with sheep farmers has been paid €190,000 by the Department of Agriculture to compensate for a seven-year suspension.

The man had been ordered out of work, with half-pay, in 2001. Two years later the Director of Public Prosecutions told the department he would not face any charges but this was not acted on and the civil servant remained suspended for a further five years.

The department agreed to settle the case after it was advised that not doing so would risk revealing irregularities in its inspection regime in court.

The payout came nine years after £200,000 of subsidies to sheep farmers were stopped and the Garda Fraud Squad were asked to investigate.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show the department believed it should have reinstated the man to his job in 2003 but kept him on suspension with half-pay until the case was settled in late 2008.

The documents reveal that in early 1999 the quota unit in Castlebar triggered investigations after picking up problems with the returns from one district inspection.

The secretary general of the department immediately referred the case to the Garda Commissioner.

All of the man’s colleagues were interviewed and 31 specially selected farmers had their ewe premium claims reexamined.

According to departmental records, a high proportion of farmers who had leased quota did not have enough sheep to justify their claims. It also uncovered unspecified irregularities in the transfer of a quota by the man under investigation.

He was arrested on April 9, 2001, following an 18-month Garda fraud investigation.

The man’s identity or the region where he worked has not been release.