Chairman defended expenses bill while seeking €5m lifeline

The chairman of the natio-nal stud penned a lengthy defence of its controversially lavish expenses’ regime at a time it was pleading for a €5m lending lifeline.

In mid-2009, the Irish National Stud (INS) laid bare its financial predicament and its fears for its future to Department of Agriculture officials who refused to allow it borrow an extra €5m.

Two months later, its chairman Chryss O’Reilly wrote a 10-page letter to the then minister of agriculture, Brendan Smith, to dismiss newspaper reports about the expense paid to her CEO.