An excessive number of staff credit cards and a high number of vehicles were among concerns raised in an audit at the fishery protection agency.
The State’s financial watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General, highlighted significant lapses in the system of controls operated for years at Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) in a report published on Thursday.
A €278,000 settlement arising from benefit-in-kind payments due to the Revenue Commissioners was another issue raised by the external auditor.
IFI is the State agency responsible for protection, management and conservation of Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea-angling resources.
READ MORE
The Comptroller report said that following a road traffic accident in 2021, IFI found that 15 of its hired vehicles, including the vehicle involved in the crash, had been uninsured for a period.
The agency incurred costs of almost €230,000 from the incident.
The Comptroller’s report said that in 2020 the IFI had made 53 credit cards available to staff who used them to spend more than €148,000.
The number of staff credit cards was reduced to 17. However, the report said this remained excessive for an organisation of its size.
The report also said that during 2023 IFI staff had access to 436 vehicles, of which 196 were owned by the agency and 43 leased on a seasonable basis.
“Notwithstanding the nature of IFI’s work, the number of vehicles used appears to be very high,” the watchdog said.
The report also said that IFI incurred significant costs regarding benefit-in-kind liabilities.
Following an internal review, IFI made a payment of tax, including interest and penalties, to Revenue of more than €17,600 in 2023 over the installation of electric vehicle charging points at seven workers’ homes at a cost of €11,700.
The charging points were installed between 2018 and 2021 and were later identified as a taxable “benefit-in-kind” to the employees. The IFI did not verify with the Revenue in advance on whether a benefit-in-kind issue arose.
Six charging points were removed and were “currently warehoused” at IFI’s offices in Citywest, Dublin. They are “currently being assessed for reuse, or for sale or scrapping should reuse not be possible”, the report said.
The remaining charger was bought out by the IFI staff member.
Separately, in 2019, the Revenue reviewed the use of pool vehicles bring brought home by IFI staff, resulting in a tax settlement of €278,000.
The watchdog identified extensive use of agency staff, resulting in IFI “consistently operating above its sanctioned staff numbers”.
Hiring agency staff cost €743,000 in 2021, increasing to €882,000 in 2022.
The report also said that the IFI headquarters is located in Citywest, Dublin, but in November 2021 the chief executive’s work base was changed to the organisation’s regional office in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.
It said this change was made without the board’s authorisation and that there was no evidence of a business case having been prepared to support the move.
It said that in March 2023 IFI discovered that formal delegated sanction for officers to initiate prosecutions had not been in place.
About 50 cases, including prosecutions for serious fish kills and water pollution, were withdrawn, leaving the agency exposed to potential financial and legal risk.
