IFI accused of throwing employee 'under the bus' over uninsured car involved in crash

Audit found some 15 vehicles hired by IFI between June 1 and July 27, 2021, were uninsured.

Inland Fisheries Ireland “threw an employee under the bus” by failing to notify them and the gardaí that a vehicle involved in a road traffic accident was uninsured, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

The Dáil’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), was told by Ireland’s waterways regulator it was “not aware of an obligation” to notify the gardaí. The committee heard a Garda summons was sent to the employee related to driving without insurance.

Island Fisheries Ireland’s (IFI) appearance at the committee came several weeks after a damning audit completed by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy, highlighted a litany of governance failures.

This included dozens of credit cards being given to employees, and an uninsured vehicle owned by IFI, which was involved in an accident, leading to a €230,000 repair bill.

Some 15 vehicles hired by the organisation between June 1 and July 27, 2021, were uninsured.

Labour TD Eoghan Kenny quizzed Barry Fox, IFI deputy chief executive, on two summonses, which had been sent to the employee who was driving the vehicle at the time of the August 2021 crash. This included, he said, a summons for driving without insurance and another for dangerous driving.

When asked if the gardaí had been informed the vehicle involved in the crash was uninsured, Michael Cusack, IFI’s field service manager, told Mr Kenny the body “was not aware that we had a legal obligation to do so”.

He said IFI was not aware the vehicle was not insured in mid-November 2021. However, Mr Kenny argued this contradicted previous evidence given to the PAC by former chief executive Francis O’Donnell, who said he knew on the day of the accident.

“You allowed a staff member to receive a summons from An Garda Síochána in relation to no insurance, even though you were acutely aware of the fact that the vehicle was not insured,” Mr Kenny said.

“You allowed a staff member to receive a summons [with] no mention of IFI on the summons.”

Mr Fox said he had “no sight” of any summons given to an employee related to driving with no insurance, with Mr Kenny saying that the employee was not told until October 2022 about the insurance issue.

“IFI did not produce that documentation [confirming the insurance was not valid] to An Garda Síochána or to the staff member,” Mr Kenny said.

“Now you’re saying, ‘I didn’t understand there was a legal obligation’. Of course there is a legal obligation.

“False documentation was provided to your staff member, who then, in turn, provided it to An Garda Síochána.

“What we ultimately have is a staff member being absolutely, […] thrown under the bus for this.”

Mr Fox denied this and suggested the summons did not relate to driving without insurance.

However, Mr Kenny insisted there were two summonses issued, including one for driving without valid insurance.

Mr Fox also said IFI “did not willingly” give the gardaí any false documentation. He acknowledged the insurance certificate provided following the accident was not valid.

Elsewhere, he also confirmed IFI had no leads “whatsoever” about the cause of the pollution on the Blackwater River, which killed 32,000 fish.

Mr Fox said it was suspected a “plume” may have been discharged “about 72 hours before the first detection of dead fish”.