Galway senator claims ‘skullduggery’ within Inland Fisheries

Galway senator Seán Kyne (FG) has once again highlighted issues of concern at Inland Fisheries Ireland.

In a pre-Christmas address in the Seanad, Mr Kyne said there was ‘documented evidence of skullduggery and manipulation of the highest order’.

His latest charge relates to allegations of a senior staff appointment.

Using parliamentary privilege, he said that the Department of Environment is in possession of documents, which show Minister Eamon Ryan and officials of IFI, “should not and could not be satisfied with the way in which at least one senior appointment was made”.

He said the document held by the Department for some time contains emails and text messages about the appointment process for a worker at IFI.

Mr Kyne said staff members of IFI should have a legitimate expectation that if they worked hard and were involved in professional training and development that they would get promotions up the ladder if they sought them.

“I am afraid, however, that any employee who reads this document could not have any trust or confidence in the current appointment process. I am not saying it was always thus, but it is certainly the case at the moment,” he said.

Seán Kyne reiterated his call for an inquiry into the workings of IFI, which is responsible for inland waterways including Lough Corrib.

This is Mr Kyne’s latest attempt to highlight issues at IFI.

In a previous contribution to the Seanad debate last month, Senator Kyne slammed the IFI as ‘rotten and corrupt’.

He also used parliamentary privilege to allege wrongdoing at IFI including inappropriate allocation of funding, including to an angling club that ‘did not exist’.