False travel claims by a Teagasc employee which continued for nearly 16 years came to more than €77,000.
The staff member was demoted and had to pay back €130,056, which included €52,420 in interest and penalties, according to a supplement to the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the annual accounts of the body.
The report said the fraud was first raised in an anonymous letter in 2001 to the authority itself. The letter was referred to the director of a Teagasc research centre which was not identified, and the centre's director said he was satisfied all was in order.
But in July 2002, the centre's administrative officer challenged a staff member who accepted he was making false travel claims. He promised there would be no recurrence.
"The staff member's head of Department was informed. He met the staff member and concluded that the false claims did not go back over a long period and that the amount at issue was small," said the report.
"On this basis he decided that no further action was warranted and he did not report the matter to the Director of the Centre," it continued. When another anonymous letter was received by the authority's director, however, alleging failure to deal with false expenses claims in May 2003, an internal auditor carried out an investigation.
This investigation revealed that a staff member had been submitting spurious claims since 1988 in two categories. The weekly overclaim was 112 miles and this had been duly certified by the then head of department. The amount calculated as having been paid in receipt of claims for journeys not undertaken was €77,636.
The report said disciplinary action had been taken against the officer concerned. He was demoted within his grading structure and had to repay the excess amount claimed for journeys not undertaken plus interest.
In October 2003 an inquiry into the role of the administration officer and the head of department recommended they be disciplined but they are both contesting this action.
Asked by the comptroller why the controls had failed for almost 16 years, Teagasc director Mr Jim Flanagan said it was attributable to a culture of unwarranted trust in the integrity of some staff by certain managers at the centre.