A fishing industry leader has questioned the reason for the sudden resignation of a member of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).
Tim Donovan stood down from the SFPA – the State’s seafood industry regulator - in early February after just over seven months in the post.
Mr Donovan had been assistant director of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), responsible for an area extending from Canada to North Carolina and including the US Great Lakes region.
He joined the SFPA in late June 2021, and was, for a time, the sole member of the SFPA until the appointment of Paschal Hayes as executive chair last December to succeed Dr Susan Steele.
Dr Steele was appointed executive director of the European Fisheries Control Agency in Spain last year.
SFPA staff have been taking industrial action since January over terms and conditions.
In a letter to colleagues, Mr Donovan said he understood this was a “difficult time” for the organisation.
He said he appreciated “the strain this announcement will cause to the organisation”, but he had decided to resign from his position as authority member in discussions with his family.
“The authority position is of great importance to this organisation and deserves a member fully dedicated to the mission and the energy to fulfil the strategic goals”.
“Unfortunately, at this time in my life, I no longer have that energy and the SFPA deserves a more engaged authority member”, he said.
“I have chosen retirement based on my US pension and to spend more quality time with my family in West Cork,” he wrote.
Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation (IS&WFPO) chief executive Patrick Murphy said there were “ questions” to be asked about what he described as a “surprise resignation” by Mr Donovan.
“We have an SFPA which is in the middle of an industrial dispute with its staff, and it is now back to one authority member with the resignation of Mr Donovan,” he said.
“This comes at a time when we have a Naval Service which is not fully equipped to monitor and police our waters,” Mr Murphy said.
Asked to comment on Mr Donovan’s resignation and whether this occurred after a meeting with a senior Department of Marine official, the department said that “the SFPA Authority member concerned tendered their resignation to the minister in accordance with the requirements of Section 47 (10) (a) of the Sea Fisheries Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006”.
Asked if the SFPA had the statutory authority to continue with just one authority member in place, both the SFPA and the department said this was permitted under Section 47 (1) of the SFPA Act (Sea Fisheries Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 ).
“Tim Donovan made an important contribution during his time with the SFPA. The SFPA acknowledges and thanks him for his work to promote and support sea-fisheries protection,” the SFPA said.
Both the SFPA and the department confirmed that an open competition to fill the vacancy would be advertised by the Public Appointments Service shortly.