Fisheries body to be recalled by Public Accounts Committee over protected disclosure report

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) takes “extremely seriously” a report finding that a former chief executive of a State fishing agency was offered settlement terms to leave the organisation which would have required him to drop protected disclosures containing allegations against politicians, its chairman has said.

John Brady of Sinn Féin said the committee would seek the board and management of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to give evidence before it again on foot of an independent report on a protected disclosure.

The report was considered in private session by the committee on Thursday.

The Irish Times reported on Thursday that the report by KPMG, commissioned by the Department of the Environment, suggests there were two different versions of the severance terms.

One was provided to the former chief executive Francis O’Donnell by IFI, while the other was sent by the agency to the department, its parent body.

The KPMG report upheld, in part, one allegation of wrongdoing made by O’Donnell in a protected disclosure to the department in May 2025. This allegation maintained there had been a request by IFI that O’Donnell “discharge the protected disclosures in lieu of a financial package and a reference”. No settlement agreement was subsequently reached.

At a previous hearing of the PAC last March, Brady questioned IFI chair Tom Collins over whether at any stage the former CEO had been asked to withdraw protected disclosures he had made.

Collins replied: “Categorically, no.”

Brady asked whether a condition had been attached at any stage, as part of a proposed settlement agreement or severance agreement, that protected disclosures would be withdrawn.

Collins said: “From memory, no. I will say this. Any discussion we had was towards full and final settlement.”

Brady said on Friday that the PAC would be writing to IFI to ask if it accepted the findings of the KPMG report and to set out its position on the issue. He said the PAC would also be contacting the department about the report. He said the committee would be looking for the perspective of the Office of the Protected Disclosure Commissioner on the matter.

He said members at the private hearing on Thursday considered the issues to be extremely serious.

Other allegations made by O’Donnell were not upheld by KPMG, including that there had been a breach of a protected disclosure and of occupational sick leave procedures.

Some claims made by O’Donnell that he had been blackmailed by a politician and that there had been attempts made to block the promotion of an IFI employee were not dealt with by the investigation, as they had been referred to the Garda.

Asked by The Irish Times earlier this week whether its board or management accepted the findings of the report, IFI said it was “not in a position to comment at present”.