A local authority chief executive who was criticised by the political standards watchdog for contravening ethics legislation has received a €238,364 lump sum on his retirement.
Last November, the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) was highly critical of Longford County Council chief executive Tim Caffrey for his failure to fully disclose his ownership of a €259,000 property that the council was helping a charity to purchase.
The sale of the house at The Mill, Clondra, Co Longford by the Muiríosa Foundation never went through, however.
In its ruling, Sipo found that Mr Caffrey had “not acted in good faith”, had been “negligent to a high degree”, and that it was “a serious matter”.
Mr Caffrey had declared ownership of the house in the council's annual declaration of interests, but Sipo found that Mr Caffrey had breached ethics legislation when failing to notify in writing his interest in the property to the then cathaoirleach of the council, Larry Bannon.
In response to the report, a statement issued on Mr Caffrey’s behalf said that he utterly rejected the conclusion that he did not act in good faith.
The statement said that Mr Caffrey was very disappointed with the findings of the report.
Intention to retire
Appointed council chief executive in 2006, Mr Caffrey turns 65 in July 2016. He informed the Department of the Environment last September of his intention to retire in March.
The department confirmed yesterday that following Mr Caffrey’s retirement last month, he is entitled to a gross pension lump sum of €238,364. This is made up of a gross lump sum payment of €188,481 and a severance gratuity payment of €49,883.
In addition, the department confirmed that Mr Caffrey is to receive a gross annual pension of €62,827 that is subject to public service pension reduction.
The 18-member council chose not to take any action against Mr Caffrey in the wake of the Sipo report.Current cathaoirleach Cllr Gerry Warnock (Social Democrat) said Mr Caffrey's lapse "was an administrative error. It didn't seem like a hanging offence and that was the opinion of the majority of council members."
