Category: Government

Office of Public Works arrogantly refuses to answer questions

For over two weeks now I’ve been attempting to extract some very simple answers from the Office of Publc Works (OPW) regarding the large number of art work that has gone missing from Leinster House.

I’ve been through all the usual hoops – several emails, numerous phone calls, moved from extension to extension, from office to office, sidelined into the Press Office, put it in writing Mr. Sheridan, listened to officials trying to sound professional as they tell me fairy tales until, finally, I hit the standard bureaucratic brick wall.

The brick wall arrived, at is usually does, when I insisted on knowing the precise legislative basis for refusing to answer my questions.

I would be grateful if you could confirm to me the precise rules/regulations/laws on which your office is refusing to answer my questions on this matter.

I received the following email which, without exception, is the most arrogant/dismissive response I have ever received from a public official.

A public official who, in theory, is supposed to be working in the best intersts of Ireland and its citizens.

The form of the email is exactly as I received it.

Mr. Sheridan,

I refer to previous emails and telephone conversations. Please see responses below.

What are the name, position and rank of the person/s responsible for the safe keeping of the missing items?

The OPW Art Management Office manages the State Art Collection.

What action has been taken in response to the missing items?

The OPW Art Management Office is not in a position to confirm that items are missing.

In particular, what action has been taken in respect of items that went missing prior to the last general election?

The OPW Art Management Office is not in a position to confirm that items went missing prior to the last general election.

What is the overall time period in which the items went missing?

The OPW is not in a position to confirm that items are missing.

Please supply a list of the estimated value of each missing item.

The OPW is not in a position to confirm that items are missing. Therefore it is not possible to supply such a list.

Please supply a list of the exact offices/locations from which items went missing.

The OPW is not in a position to confirm that items are missing. Therefore it is not possible to supply such a list.

Please supply a list of the officials/politicians who occupied offices from which items went missing.

The OPW is not in a position to confirm that items are missing. Therefore it is not possible to supply such a list.

Please confirm or otherwise if members of the public are entitled to speak directly to OPW officials regarding this matter.

I confirm that responses will issue to you from the OPW Press office.

I would be grateful if you could confirm to me the precise rules/regulations/laws on which your office is refusing to answer my questions on this matter.

As previously stated the OPW is currently not in a position to answer questions relating to the ongoing art inventory.

I trust the above clarifies the matter.

Regards

A freedom of information request is on the way.

Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, defends abuse of power by Government?

The Supreme Court has granted a declaration that the State acted wrongfully in spending public money on the website, information booklets and advertisements in relation to the children’s referendum.

The court found that the Government did not conform to the required principles laid down by the landmark McKenna judgement.

If you can stomach it I recommend listening to the truly obnoxious response to the judgement by Justice Minister, Alan Shatter (News at One, 3rd report).

This most arrogant of politicians steadfastly and repeatedly refused to apologise for this blatant abuse of Government power.

I find myself in the unusual position of actually agreeing with John Waters’ on an issue.

Public money has been used to distort the campaign and therefore contaminates the outcome of the referendum.

It is worth recalling that the McKenna judgement (1995) came about because of the high principles and courage of former Green Party member Patricia McKenna.

Although campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in the 1995 divorce campaign McKenna challenged the State’s use of taxpayers’ money to back the ‘yes’ campaign and not the ‘no’ side.

Her successful challenge means that the State is not permitted to preferentially use taxpayers’ money to fund one side or the other in a referendum campaign.

Of course, such trivialities as obeying the law or respecting the Constitution has never prevented Irish politicians from doing exactly as they think fit.

Hence Minister Shatter’s arrogant dismissal of the Supreme Court’s ruling and the complaints from those on the ‘no’ side.

Change of tack by Clerk of the Dail? Lowry complaints are to be considered

This morning I had a look at the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995, which covers complaints to the Clerk of the Dail.

According to the legislation the Clerk of the Dail can reject a complaint if he/she is of the opinion that it is frivolous or vexatious.

With that in mind I again rang the Clerk of the Dail to enquire if all 83 complaints received in response to the latest Lowry scandal were deemed frivolous and vexatious

The Clerk can decide not to pass on a complaint to the Committee for Members Interests if he forms the opinion that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious or that there’s not sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case in relation to the complaint.

In relation to the complaints received in this case the Clerk will be sending all appropriate complaints, that is, any that are not frivolous or vexatious or whatever he deems to be, to the Committee for attention.

The Clerk of the Dail will write to all complainants (as required in the legislation) outlining his decisions.

The official could not tell me how many were deemed frivolous and vexatious but did confirm that a number of the complaints would be forwarded to the Committee for Members Interests.

Interestingly, she also informed me that complaints were still coming in.

Lowry won't be investigated?

I wrote yesterday about being heartened by the unprecedented number of complaints (83) made to the Clerk of the Dail in response to the latest Lowry scandal.

Since then I’ve come across an excellent article by Elaine Byrne (Sunday Independent) which could explain the large number of complaints.

In her article Ms. Byrne calls on readers to make an official complaint to the Clerk of the Dail.

I am asking you, dear reader, to do something about that. If you believe that Michael Lowry — asserted to be “profoundly corrupt” by the Moriarty tribunal and a tax cheat by the Revenue Commissioners — is telling the God honest truth, then ignore the following.

This is how you complain. It must be in writing.

“Subject to section five of the Ethics Act, I wish to make a complaint about Michael Lowry’s registerable interests with respect to undisclosed lands near Wigan.”

Sign it and post it to Mr. Kieran Coughlan, Clerk of the Dail, Houses of the Oireachtas, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

I spoke to an official in the Clerk of the Dail’s office yesterday, before I came across Ms. Byrne’s article, to ask if an investigation had been initiated as a result of the complaints.

No, because the complaints would have referred to the fact that he hadn’t declared land and yesterday he amended his register of interests and declared the land.

So your office is taking no action for the many years in which Mr. Lowry failed to register this land?

No.

This sort of twisted; arrogant logic by our so-called enforcement authorities is one of the principal reasons why Ireland has descended to the status of banana republic.

Economist frightened and surprised by banks behaviour

The head of Bank of Ireland, Richie Boucher, gave two fingers to the Oireachtas Finance Committee yesterday.

Bankers have been giving the two fingers to politicians and by extension to the people of Ireland for decades with no fear whatsoever that they will be brought to account.

For decades, politicians have been ‘outraged’ by the arrogant and greedy behaviour of bankers but for some odd reason never seem to get around to actually doing anything about the situation.

And it’s not just politicians who seem to be completely powerless in the face of the all powerful banks.

Take Tony Foley for example. Mr. Foley is a seasoned academic; he’s a senior lecturer in economics, no less, at DCU.

But despite his academic credentials, position and experience Mr. Foley effectively admits that he has no idea what’s going on when it comes to bankers in Ireland.

Not only that but Mr. Foley is also frightened, very worried and greatly surprised by the antics of Irish bankers.

Here’s some of what he had to say on The Late Debate (1 Nov) the other night.

AIB is 99% owned by the Government. It frightens me that AIB are talking about raising interest rates by about five or six percent, that they would have to increase their margins hoping to offer investors a return of about 8 to 12% in equity.

And the thing that surprised me greatly was, this is a government owned bank.

Has the Government told them that this is the target equity requirement?

They talked about talking to investors; I didn’t know the Government told them to talk to investors.

They were talking of maybe in two years investors might be willing to put money in.

I wasn’t aware there was a timetable for re-privatisation of AIB.

What do you think is going on Mr. Foley was asked.

I think they’re forgetting that they’re owned by the state and I think they’re behaving as private sector banks.

We don’t want investors now because the Government owns the equity. We want the bank to operate on behalf of the public.

Later on we might be looking for investors if we want to sell them so I don’t even know why they’re talking to investors right now.

As my good deed for the day I’m going to enlighten Mr. Foley, I’m going to try and relieve him of some of that fear, worry and surprise under which he is clearly labouring.

The state does not own AIB; it’s all pretence.

AIB and the State are marking time in the hope that the crisis will work itself out.

The state is marking time in the (vain) hope that AIB and the economy will somehow recover.

When (if) that happens the pretence that the people own the bank can be quietly dropped.

AIB will then return to what it does best, exploiting and ripping off its customers.

The billions owed by the bank, will of course, remain off the books and on the shoulders of citizens for decades to come.

AIB is also marking time until things settle down. In the meantime it’s continuing to operate, with the full backing of the political and administrative system, as a private sector bank.

This is the part that puzzles Mr. Foley and many other ‘experts’.

They simply cannot accept a brutal reality that has been obvious for many decades.

The state/administrative/political system supports the banks no matter what they do. We saw it with the Dirt scandal, with Ansbacher, with NIB, and endless other scandals.

It’s crucial to understand that state authorities knew about and in some cases actively supported these activities as they were happening.

It’s also crucial to understand that white-collar crime is not actually a crime in Ireland; it’s an intrinsic, well-established aspect of the governing process.

That’s why politicians, bankers and other people of power and influence are, and never will be, brought to account.

The situation will only change when enough people realise that our corrupt political/administrative system does not act in the interests of Ireland and its people.

Copy to:
Tony Foley

Pat Rabbitte: The banker's defender

Pat Rabbitte responded as follows when asked about the disgustingly high salary (About €800,000) paid to the chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank, Mike Aynsley (Newstalk).

Rabbittee: well, you know, you could write a whole book about why it is that bankers regard themselves as the masters of the universe…this bank pretty much brought down the country.

I can’t make any stab at explaining it to the man or woman on the street why it is that people at the top of the financial ladder think that they’re entitled to salaries of that order.

But, (here’s the but) I have to say, you know, you have to attract talent against competition in the market place where top people in banking are still commanding salaries that the man or woman in the street just can’t accept.

Ah, god be with the days when Rabbitte was a socialist, a man who stood with the ordinary man and woman in the street, or at least pretended to.

Nowadays he dismisses them with contempt as he rushes to defend the greedy bankers.

If only he was a minister with some power – oh wait, he is.

Here’s what he thinks of all those angry people struggling to pay their mortgages while the bankers pay themselves lotto type salaries.

Rabbitte: well these tensions are not confined to Ireland…it is a fragile and dangerous situation, there is huge anger out there.

But anger is not a policy. Anger won’t cause this economy to recover and whether we like it or not banks are essential to the recovery.

This idea that anger is not a policy is the stupidest, most patronising, most arrogant response that any politician can make.

Anger IS a policy. Anger, for example, lies at the heart of the justice system. When humans see/experience injustice they get angry and demand retribution, they demand justice.

Anger is the evolutionary trigger that allows/forces humans to respond to harm done to themselves or to others.

When anger is absent or misdirected the corrupt become rich and powerful.

So why do Irish people quietly listen to such patronising bullshit from the likes of politicians like Rabbitte?

I think it’s because Irish people are, for the most part, politically ignorant. They don’t fully understand what real democracy is, they seem to believe that power comes from the top down rather than from the bottom up.

For most Irish citizens democracy is simply a matter of voting for the local gangster in return for a few crumbs from his heavily laden table.

We can only hope that the current crisis will trigger an awakening in the Irish people that will result in the whole rotten system being swept away forever.

When should the Gardai be called in – Well, it depends

What kind of suspicious incident needs to happen in Ireland before the Garda get involved?

Well, it depends.

Take, for example, the thirty-seven pieces of state-owned art that recently went missing from Leinster House.

The Gardai were not called in and are, apparently, not interested.

It’s all being quietly dealt with ‘in house’, so to speak.

First of all the art pieces are, apparently, only ‘missing’, ‘misplaced’ or otherwise ‘unaccounted for’. They have not, apparently, being stolen.

The accommodation managers have beeen ordered to locate the artwork and if they cannot then they will be officially declared missing.

This will take two or three weeks, so no hurry; no panic.

It seems that when staff take a fancy to a particular piece of art they ‘take it’ with them when they move office.

According to an official the resources necessary to keep track of everything are not available.

While some of the pieces went missing after the last general election other items went missing well before that.

It appears that the whole matter of artwork going missing from Leinster House is as common and as unremarked upon as a politician doing a favour for a constituent.

No need to call in the Guards, sure the art will turn up somewhere, sometime and if they have to be officially declared ‘missing’ sure what’s harm.

But what happens when state-owned artwork goes missing from a location outside the control of politicians and state officials?

Well, it’s theft, pure and simple and the Gardai are called in immediately.

A major Garda investigation is underway after state-owned paintings were stolen, not ‘missing or misplaced’ now, but stolen from a warehouse in Co Kildare.

Gardai are investigating staff at the private warehouse where the paintings were stored.

Neither Leinster House staff nor politicians are being investigated by Gardai.

Gardai want to know how the thieves were able to gain access to the warehouse.

Nobody in Leinster House is being asked about access to the missing artwork.

The Gardai are trying to determine when the artwork was last checked.

In Leinster House nobody seems to know the when, who or how when it comes to checking artwork.

Gardai are trying to establish a timeline of events leading up to the theft of the paintings.

In Leinster House, well, some of the artwork went missing before and some after the last election; nobody really knows what’s going on.

Gardai are trying to establish who had access to the warehouse and who had knowledge of its contents.

In Leinster House it seems everybody had access to the artwork and just took what they liked.

Gardai want to know what security procedures were in operation, how they were bypassed and how the theft went unnoticed.

In Leinster House there is, apparently, no security and the ‘missing’ artwork wasn’t missed for ages.

The Department of Arts and Heritage is carrying out a massive review of security within the department.

In Leinster House the accommodation managers have been instructed to have a look around and see if they can find anything.

So it seems, when state property goes missing at a location where state officials and politicians are responsible nothing much really happens.

There’s no suspicion that a crime may have been committed, the very thought.

When state property goes missing outside of the political/administrative sector there is a strong and immediate reaction by state authorities.

And the lesson is?

If you fancy a nice piece of free art – Leinster House is the place.

Double standards

Letter in today’s Irish Examiner.

Double standards

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore is to be commended for immediately launching an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of Irish charity funds in Uganda.

In addition to the investigation Mr Gilmore has also made it clear to the government of Uganda that he will not tolerate any misappropriation or misuse of Irish money.

This prompt and appropriate action stands in stark contrast to Mr Gilmore’s response to a report from Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly that the Department of Health has been effectively misappropriating funds due to disabled citizens over 66 years of age.

Instead of acting immediately to halt this, Mr Gilmore has decided to seek legal advice on the matter.

It seems we are once again witnessing the double standards of Irish politicians when it comes to law enforcement and accountability.

Anthony Sheridan
Cobh

Feck them, feck them all

There was a very angry woman on Liveline yesterday complaining about the harassment she has received from the incompetent Local Government Management Agency.

Despite having paid her household charge the woman continues to receive threatening letters from the agency.

She told Joe that she’s sorry now that she obeyed the law and paid up immediately ending with:

Feck them, feck them all.

Reply to Office of Public Works

My reply to Office of Public Works Press Office regarding thirty seven pieces of state-owned artwork missing from Leinster House.

Dear…

Thank you for the generalised overview of the State Art Collection.

Unfortunately the information you provide bears little relevance to the series of questions I had asked.

You did confirm that the art collection is managed by an inventory system and therefore you will be aware that such a system is very efficient in recording and tracking the location and movements of all art items.

The system also allows for the immediate identification of those responsible for art items at any particular time.

You will be aware, for example, that if a work of art is moved from Leinster House to another location in the country it is signed out of Leinster House and signed in to its new location and that inventories at both locations are changed to reflect the event.

This also applies when items are moved from office to office within the same building.

You will also be aware that inventories and those responsible for their contents are regularly checked by a higher authority to ensure that all items are present and correct.

My queries are specifically concerned with the art items missing from the Leinster House complex over a very specific period of time.

On the assumption that the Leinster House inventory system was properly operated and supervised it is reasonable to assume that the information I have requested is in existence.

With this in mind I have re-submitted my questions below.

If you are unable to answer any particular question I would be grateful if you would simply state that fact and provide a reason for your inability to answer.

I would also request that in replying to my queries that you extend the same courtesy to me that I automatically extend to you – that I am a person of at least average intelligence.

Yours Sincerely
Anthony Sheridan

What are the name, position and rank of the person/s responsible for the safe keeping of the missing items?

What action has been taken in response to the missing items?

In particular, what action has been taken in respect of items that went missing prior to the last general election?

What is the overall time period in which the items went missing?

Please supply a list of the estimated value of each missing item

Please supply a list of the exact offices/locations from which items went missing

Please supply a list of the officials/politicians who occupied offices from which items went missing.

Please confirm or otherwise if members of the public are entitled to speak directly to OPW officials regarding this matter.