The former chief executive of the State agency charged with managing the country’s inland fisheries and sea angling resources has initiated proceedings against the organisation.
The Irish Times understands that Francis O’Donnell has filed complaints against Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The nature of the issues raised by Mr O’Donnell are not known.
Contacted on Tuesday, Mr O’Donnell declined to comment.
In early December the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (Pac) was told by current IFI management that the former chief executive had left the organisation last June but had been on leave since March, 2024.
The committee subsequently sought further details from IFI about employment and payment details regarding the former chief executive.
In December Pac chairman John Brady told the agency’s parent department that it had “significant concerns” about governance within IFI.
In a letter to Oonagh Buckley, secretary general at the Department of the Environment, he said “these issues have been ongoing within the IFI for a number of years”.
Mr Brady, of Sinn Féin, said that, “consequently”, the State agency was required to appear before the Dáil committee in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
He told Ms Buckley the committee was seeking a note “detailing at what stage does a minister or the department intervene when governance issues arise within an organisation”.
The Irish Times previously reported in December that the Government had decided on a new external examination of the fisheries agency. Minister for the Environment Darragh O’Brien said the examination would take place after a new chief executive was appointed.
The agency has faced controversies over recent years, with a number of external reviews and investigations conducted since 2021.
Pac members have been investigating a number of issues involving the agency that were set out in a special report last October by the State’s main auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Committee members criticised the agency’s current management over evidence provided at a hearing in December.
After that meeting, Timmy Dooley, Minister for State with responsibilities for fisheries, told the agency’s chairman Tom Collins in a letter that “a number of items” raised at the hearing had not been fully addressed.
“It is understandable that Pac members continue to have legitimate questions, which will require further responses and/or clarifications.”
It is understood that Mr Collins told the Minister before Christmas that the IFI had had a lengthy discussion about the Pac meeting and that the board would ensure outstanding questions on the operation of the agency would be answered comprehensively.