Greens to act on Lost at Sea scheme after reshuffle

THE GREEN Party has said it will wait until the Cabinet reshuffle is completed before raising the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly’s report on the Lost at Sea scheme at Government level.

The party said yesterday it was still determined to ensure the report by Ms O’Reilly be referred to an Oireachtas committee.

However, a spokesman said it would await next week’s reshuffle of Cabinet by Taoiseach Brian Cowen before taking any further steps. The reason, he said, was the department with responsibility for the matter, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, may be reconfigured next week.

“We will need to see what the configurations of departments are after the reshuffle. On that basis, we will know which committee can best deal with the issue,” he said.

The report on a scheme to grant-aid replacement capacity for vessels lost at sea recommended that a Donegal family excluded from the scheme should be awarded €250,000 in compensation.

The findings were later rejected by the department, the second time in 26 years that an ombudsman’s report has not been accepted by Government.

A report by Ms O’Reilly’s predecessor, Kevin Murphy, on a dispute about tax refunds had three of its five recommendations rejected by the Revenue Commissioners. The matter was eventually referred to the Oireachtas Finance Committee in 2003. It ruled on the report to the satisfaction of all parties.

However, that avenue has not been pursued by the Government for this report. Opposition attempts in the Dáil and Seanad to have the matter referred to the committee were defeated when it was put to the vote. An attempt to have the report discussed at the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries was also turned down by its chairman, Fianna Fáil TD Johnny Brady.

The Greens’ spokesman said that both party leader John Gormley and its chairman, Senator Dan Boyle, have publicly confirmed that they want the report to be referred to a Dáil committee for consideration. He said that remains the case.

The ombudsman’s report has been discussed at Cabinet but not in any considerable detail. It is expected that Mr Gormley may bring the matter up at Cabinet later this month.

The scheme was the initiative of then minister for the marine Frank Fahey who has maintained that no monetary value attached to replacement capacity awarded to those who benefited from the scheme, and has also pointed out that they were specifically prohibited from transferring the capacity to others.

The Galway West deputy has also rejected as without foundation the value of €2.8 million put on the scheme by Opposition politicians.