Roche examines files on waste permit investigation

MINISTER OF State for European Affairs Dick Roche was this weekend examining Department of Environment files relating to a 2005 Local Government Audit Service (LGAS) investigation at Wicklow County Council.

The investigation, carried out at the Minister’s request, exonerated the council from any serious wrongdoing in relation to the alleged destruction of a waste permit worth €400,000 by a senior council official.

Mr Roche as minister for environment in 2005, said he had been assured by the audit service that what happened in Wicklow County Council was “an administrative error with no wider implications for the council”.

But Mr Roche said he was astonished to read in The Irish Timeslast week that a draft report found that what he called "a valuable, legal document" had been removed from a file and shredded. Following the publication of the article, Mr Roche said he had asked for all relevant documents from his former department.

An extensive volume of documents was delivered on Friday last and Mr Roche said he will be examining them closely.

“I am very concerned that the responses from the LGAS seem to raise as many questions as they answered. If what I read in the newspaper is accurate, the LGAS pardoned Wicklow County Council for the destruction of a legal document, describing it as nothing more than a clerical error.”

Mr Roche added he would be very concerned if the audit service had told a serving minister “Sir Humphrey-like” that there was nothing to be concerned about, “when in fact it was extremely serious”.

Documents relating to the investigation were released to Independent Wicklow Councillor Tommy Cullen in recent weeks. They indicate that a recommendation was made within Wicklow County Council to authorise the waste permit, and it was subsequently signed on January 17th, 2003. The original was later destroyed, but a copy had been issued to the Environmental Protection Agency.

However, the landowners were not notified the permit had been signed and complained inaccurate information had been sent by the council to the family’s solicitors.

The council later apologised for making “an incorrect statement” in denying the waste permit had been signed. A new permit was issued in May 2003 and backdated.