Beleaguered State agency Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) paid off the salary of its former chief executive, who is now taking a case at the Workplace Relations Commission, at a cost of €145,000, an Oireachtas committee has heard. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard former chief executive Francis O’Donnell received total payments from IFI of €377,000 for 2024 and 2025, despite being on leave from the organisation from March 2024. Mr O’Donnell was terminated from Inland Fisheries Ireland in June 2025. IFI has been without a full-time chief executive for the past two years, although a new chief executive, Dr Eamonn Kelly, is due to take up his appointment later this month. He added the body had elected to enter mediation with Mr O’Donnell rather than taking legal action in order to “avoid exposure” to additional costs.

Source: Irish Examiner March 27, 2026 00:10 UTC