Bullying claims at waterways body upheld, says O Cuiv

Allegations of bullying on a cross-Border body have been upheld, Minister for Community Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív has conceded.

In a statement of clarification to the Dáil, the Minister said he had inadvertently made an error when he had previously told the House that "allegations of harassment, which is another word for bullying, were not upheld" at Waterways Ireland.

Apologising for the inadvertent mistake, the Minister stressed however that the events involved were not as extensive or serious as alleged and could have been minimised had the issues been brought to the attention of the chief executive officer of Waterways Ireland, the cross-Border institution responsible for canal routes.

Mr Ó Cuív made a personal statement to the Dáil yesterday to clarify responses he had given during Question Time in April to Fine Gael's community affairs spokesman Dinny McGinley, about the report of an inquiry into alleged bullying and patronage at Waterways Ireland,

The Minister said the correct situation was that "allegations of harassment were not upheld by the investigation.

"However, there is a legal difference between harassment and bullying, which I overlooked in my reply. I should have answered in regard to the allegations of bullying as follows: 'While the investigation concluded that there was substance to some of the allegations of bullying, the events themselves were found not to be as extensive or as serious as alleged. Furthermore, the investigation believes that the difficulties created could have been minimised if the issues had been taken up by the complainant with the CEO at an earlier stage.' "