Mr Desmond O'Malley TD has attacked "the spin" put by the Minister for Agriculture and others on EU fines imposed on Ireland "which would seem to suggest that the whole thing was a great triumph for this country". The fines, said the Progressive Democrat TD, were "the greatest single failure in public administration since the foundation of the State". In the previous 10 years Ireland had been fined about £80,000 for agricultural irregularities. That had now jumped to £70 million within two years.
This was an "outrage" on the Irish taxpayer, who has to pay the fines "while the beneficiaries of these malpractices are allowed to retain their ill gotten gains in full". Mr O'Malley blamed the Department of Agriculture whose "lack of diligence and "lack of competence" had resulted in the situation.
Wednesday's fines, he said, were not the end of the matter. "Political and official maladministration relating to the beef industry could cost the taxpayer further sums in excess of £200 million." This arose from abuse of the export credit insurance scheme and failure to collect insurance on a large quantity of meat in storage here, which was destroyed in a fire.