VEC sought laws to impeach whistleblower

Co Cork VEC lobbied the minister for education for new laws to impeach committee members for disloyalty after it took issue with the actions of a whistleblower.

The VEC had been in dispute with former councillor Humphrey Deegan, who had highlighted a series of problems which are now the subject of inquiries by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee.

The matters he brought to the attention of the PAC have also resulted in the VEC having to make a six-figure settlement with Revenue.

Having already sought legal advice on Mr Deegan’s actions in early 2012, the VEC — now part of Cork Education and Training Board — voted in 2012 that he had breached its code of ethics because of a critical interview he gave to C103FM. The motion said he had been disloyal.

Afterwards, then acting chief executive of the VEC, Joan Russell, wrote to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn to ask him to change the legislation drafted to establish ETBs to allow boards to kick out members who had not been loyal.

A briefing note recently prepared for department secretary general, Seán Ó Foghlú, said the request was not taken on board.

It said: “[The acting CEO] requested, on behalf of the committee, that consideration be given to the inclusion in the ETB legislation of a mechanism for the impeachment of a committee member in the event of their acting in a manner contrary to the best interests of the work of the committee and/or acting in a disloyal manner. Such provision has not been included in the ETB legislation.”

Six months after the VEC made the request, its chairman, Gerry Kelly, told Mr Quinn that it had also resolved to seek the removal of Mr Deegan from his position. This was blocked by Mr Quinn.

Mr Deegan was a member of the VEC and chair of its audit committee until he resigned from that role in September 2011. His move followed his questioning of an internal audit report into serious issues uncovered at the Youthreach centre in Macroom.

He subsequently brought the report to the attention of the PAC. In February 2012, after the Macroom issues was reported on in the Irish Examiner, Mr Deegan was told the VEC had voted to serve legal papers on him in relation to his actions.

The department contacted the VEC and was told by its acting CEO that the committee had voted to get legal advice on the damage the revelations had caused to its members or executive.

The department said it considered the proposal “unwise”. However, Ms Russell said that while it would not seek advice on behalf of any individuals, it had already spoken to a solicitor about the potential damage done. “The committee, as a statutory body, were vehement that such advice be sought,” she said.