Dail Report: Minister of State for the Marine John Browne has rejected Fine Gael claims that the department and senior civil servants were engaged in a "total cover-up" of the controversial Lost at Sea boat compensation scheme.
Mr Browne insisted that "there was no cover-up" and he rejected demands that he should be investigating the issue rather than the Ombudsman. It would be inappropriate for him to carry out an internal inquiry while it was being dealt with by the Ombudsman.
The Minister said: "I feel we should wait until her final report is available to the department."
Mr Browne also told Fine Gael's marine spokesman John Perry, who made the cover-up claim, that "there is a perception out there that the ombudsperson is investigating the scheme. The ombudsperson is investigating the specific allegation that was made by one applicant and we are co-operating fully with the Ombudsman in this issue."
The Fishing Vessel Lost at Sea scheme, introduced by former marine minister Frank Fahey in June 2001, ran for six months and six out of 67 applicants were successful. The scheme provided compensation in the form of tonnage quota, to families or people who had lost fishing boats between 1980 and 1990. Two applicants from Mr Fahey's constituency received some 75 per cent of replacement tonnage for their vessels.
During question time in the Dáil, the Fine Gael spokesman said it was "quite extraordinary that we have got to go to the Ombudsman when the Minister of the day should be dealing with it".
But Mr Browne said the Ombudsman was inquiring on behalf of specific applicant. "We didn't ask the Ombudsman to investigate it. I don't think for one moment when the Ombudsman is investigating a complaint - who is the most independent person in this country - that it would be up to me or for me to carry out an internal investigation at the same time."
Mr Perry said there were 120 files relevant to the scheme but only eight that Mr Fahey had wanted ring-fenced. He claimed that four of the six successful applicants were in Mr Fahey's Galway West constituency. "It is a total cover-up." The Sligo-Leitrim TD said that the report from the Ombudsman was "clearly indicating . . . the compliances of the department and senior civil servants in a cover-up in this case".
But insisting there was no cover-up, Mr Browne said the Ombudsman's investigation "is ongoing and the department has fully co-operated with the investigation at all times".
Among the unsuccessful applicants was the Byrne family of Bruckless, Co Donegal. Danny Byrne's father and brother were lost, along with three crewmen, in the sinking of the Skifjord in 1981.
The Byrnes applied for the scheme more than 12 months after the closing date. Mr Browne detailed the communication between the Ombudsman's office and the department and said that in July of this year, the department was invited to comment on the statement of the complainant. The department returned comments on July 31st, he said.
