Failte Ireland chief's €2.6k fee from firm which agency paid €30k to RE

Dail probe call over consultancy role payment while he was acting chair

- FERGHAL BLANEY

FAILTE Ireland chief Paul Carty was paid consultancy fees by a company that received €30,000 from Failte while he was acting chairman of the agency.

The Irish Mirror can reveal that the new boss of the country’s main tourism body received the sum while also interim chairman of Failte in 2021, where his pay was €20,520 a year.

Mr Carty was promoted to full-time chairman of Failte Ireland by Tourism Minister Catherine Martin in February.

A conflict of interest arose because the company, the Cliffs of Moher, was paid €30,000 by Failte Ireland under the tourism agency’s grants scheme in July 2021.