There is no evidence to back up Government claims that paying compensation to the family of a fisherman who drowned with his son would lead to an influx of claims, a state watchdog insisted today.
Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said she does not believe her investigation into why a Donegal family was rejected under the Lost at Sea Scheme sparked a cascade of applications to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The Government threw out Ms O’Reilly’s recommendation that the widow of Francis Byrne be awarded compensation following the family’s exclusion from the scheme for those who had lost trawlers at sea.
“We can find no evidence that there would have been a cascade of applicants and I don’t think the Department has received a cascade of disgruntled people,” Ms O’Reilly told an Oireachtas Committee.
Ms O’Reilly had ordered that €245,570 compensation be paid to the family of Mr Byrne after he died along with his 16-year-old son Jimmy and three other crew after the family’s fishing boat the Skifjord sank in a storm off Donegal in 1981.
The family applied for financial aid under the Government‘s controversial Lost at Sea scheme to assist fishermen who lost fishing boats between 1980 and 1989.
It was brought in by Fianna Fáil TD Frank Fahey but has been shrouded in controversy since 75 per cent of the €2 million fund went to two of his Galway constituents.
Lost at Sea only actively took in applications for six months in 2001.
The Byrne application was rejected by the Department of Agriculture, and it is believed senior civil servants were concerned about the number of claims the scheme would lead to.
Ms O’Reilly said the Byrnes’ case had been treated unfairly because some people, who officials believed wanted to apply, were contacted while others whose files were “in cold storage” were not informed.
She said the Byrne family’s application was rejected by officials on two grounds - because it was late and because Mr Byrne had been using a replacement boat that had been in operation for just three months before it sank.
The Ombudsman told the Oireachtas Agriculture committee: “It wasn’t the Byrne family’s fault that they didn’t see the scheme because they didn’t get the sort of favoured treatment that other people get.” She added: “It is my belief that if the Government wanted everybody to know about this they would have advertised more widely,” she said.
“It seems to me that this was restrictive advertising.” Ms O’Reilly said blocking the family’s compensation was like saying a taxi driver couldn’t apply for a similar scheme because he had changed cars. Children have a great way of summing up a situation. They say mum, dad, it’s not fair,” the Ombudsman said.
“They get it literally. And I think when you look at this case it’s just not fair.” The Ombudsman would not be drawn on whether she believed there had been a cover-up in the case, but said there was a political dimension to it.
“I would be stupid to make no word of the fact that there was a political dimension in this and what that amounted to I can’t say but it was certainly there,” she said.
Ms O’Reilly said she was disappointed that her recommendation had been rejected by the Oireachtas. “This isn’t about me as an individual, this isn’t about my office this is about everyone in the country who wants and needs my office,” Ms O’Reilly said.
“I have to make sure that my office is always robust and that it is listened to and that it can be effective. If people see that it breaks down at this point then obviously that diminishes the trust . . . and that could potentially diminish my office’s ability to help the people who come to my office.”
Donegal TD Jim McDaid, who is not a member of the Committee but was allowed to attend, said he had initially backed the scheme but now had reservations about it. "I don’t like it, it is not in the interests of the body politic. And it certainly isn’t in in the interests of the family involved,” he said.
Fine Gael today blamed "typical Fianna Fáil politics" for the rejection of the Ombudsman's report.
In a statement, party spokesman on fisheries Michael Creed said: "The Ombudsman’s able and convincing explanation of her findings was met with no persuasive argument today from those who disagree with her.
“It is clear that there is no reason for the Government to take the almost unprecedented step of rejecting the Ombudsman’s findings apart from typical Fianna Fáil politics. It is deeply regrettable that the Byrne family’s complaint is being ignored and the Ombudsman’s office undermined by Fianna Fáil’s inclination to protect one of their own," Mr Creed said.
PA