Call for resignation of former Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board chair, vice-chair

There has been a call for a former chairman and vice-chairman of the Call for resignation of former Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB) to consider their positions on the board.

Cllr Reada Cronin made the call at a meeting of the KWETB board on June 19.

Referencing an investigation into a legal bill that the board of the KWETB was asked to pay for even though they were not aware the legal advice had been sought, she noted that the former chair and vice-chair, Jim Ruttle and Brendan Weld, had failed to inform the board of the legal advice.

She noted that this failure was in breach of the KWETB’s Code of Practice.

For his part Cllr Weld has in the past told the Leinster Leader that the Department of Education had instructed himself and Cllr Ruttle not to tell anyone, in order, he believed, to protect the investigation.

Cllr Cronin noted that “for almost two and a half months, we were in the dark about it, and I think it brought the KWETB into some level of disrepute.

“I believe the chair and vice-chair were in breach of 4.2 of the Code of Practice in that they did not act in the best interests of the ETB.” 

She said she thought they should “consider their position”. “We need an investigation now into how this was allowed to go on for so long. Were there other members of the board that turned a blind eye, you know, the nod and the wink, that kind of politics that now has some light being shone on it?” 

However, the chair of the KWETB Noel Merrick warned the councillor: “We’re not in a political forum here, Reada. I’m very concerned with the drift of the conversation.

“Fairness and fair procedure demands that people have the right to their good names,” he said. “They’re entitled to their good names, without question, and to ascribe any ulterior motive to whatever they did, you need to be very careful about any insinuation.

“You might disagree with their actions, and I understand that completely, but to ascribe any ulterior motive, one has to be very careful. I’ve to defend every member here,” he concluded.

Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy told Mr Merrick that it was “not political to highlight where something has factually happened.

“The chair, vice-chair and chair of the audit committee withheld legal advice from this board. Their reaction goes to the very heart of this entire investigation,” she added.

The Newbridge councillor added that the Chair of the KWETB’s audit committee, Tony Lenehan, should also resign, saying he also failed to keep the board informed of the legal advice.