Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
‘Sources’ in the banking industry claim that restrictions on salaries imposed by the Government’s CIROC (Covered Institutions Remuneration Oversight Committee) were making it hard to fill vital posts (Irish Independent).
Translation: Drop these awkward restrictions on our activities so that we can return to our secretive and non accountable ways.
Despite being hardened by decades of political corruption, greed and arrogance there are still some events that really shock and disgust me to the core (Irish Independent).
In 2001 somebody thought it would be a good idea to hand out massive payments to former Taoisigh to employ secretaries and buy computer equipment.
According to Cowen the payments are made so that former Taoisigh can:
Carry out a normal range of secretarial duties to support the former Taoisigh in carrying out those aspects of work associated with their former roles which remain after their period in office has ceased.
This, in plain language, is complete and utter bullshit. In my opinion this massive payment is yet another legal scam devised by greedy politicians to enrich themselves at the expense of impoverished taxpayers.
The first question that comes to mind is how the criminal Haughey qualified for payments of €199,887 under the scheme between 2001 and his death in 2006.
The criminal retired in 1992 so how could he have incurred expenses which are specifically designated to cover the first five years after leaving office?
If there’s no time limit on the payment why didn’t Liam Cosgrave, who served as Taoiseach between 1973 and 1977, receive his share of the loot?
It’s hardly surprising that low grade Fianna Fail politicians like Haughey, Reynolds and Ahern have no scruples about accepting these payments but many Irish citizens (foolishly) believe that the likes of Bruton and Fitzgerald operate to higher ethical standards.
This scandal demonstrates that they are perfectly at home in the Fianna Fail low standards sewer.
I rang the Department of the Taoiseach with some questions on this matter and was met with the standard ‘put it in writing’ tactic.
I wrote:
To Whom It May Concern:
According to a report in the Sunday Independent of 20th June last the Department of the Taoiseach pays a special allowance to former Taoisigh to cover the salaries of secretaries and computer equipment.
I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions.
Is the money paid directly to ex Taoisigh to dispense with as they see fit or is the money spent on secretarial salaries and computer equipment costs and then reimbursed to ex Taoisigh after receipts are produced?
According to the newspaper article the initiative was introduced by the Department of Finance in August 2001.
Who was responsible for introducing the scheme?
Under what mechanism/law/Act was the scheme introduced?
Yours sincerely.
Anthony Sheridan
The Department replied with an acknowledgement and informed me that my email would be brought to the attention of the Taoiseach as soon as possible.
My reply to this (dismissive) email:
Thank you for the acknowledgement.
I would appreciate if you could answer the following question.
Is the Taoiseach the only person with access to the information required to answer my relatively simple questions?
Yours sincerely
Anthony Sheridan
I received a long and detailed reply from the Department full of useless and irrelevant information.
My reply:
Thank you for the interesting email. I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions.
Is the money paid directly to ex Taoisigh to dispense with as they see fit or is the money spent on secretarial salaries and computer equipment costs and then reimbursed to ex Taoisigh after receipts are produced?
Who was responsible for introducing the scheme?
Under what mechanism/law/Act was the scheme introduced?
Yours sincerely
Anthony Sheridan
I’m putting together an FOI on the matter.
Ultra conservative Catholic, Mary Kenny, is writing in today’s Irish Independent about the forthcoming visit of Pope Benedict to the UK.
Apparently, Cardinal John Newman is to be beatified by the Pope during the visit but Kenny is worried that this might prove controversial.
Cardinal Newman — who undoubtedly added to the acceptability and prestige of British Catholicism when he converted to Rome in 1845, and was a brilliant writer and intellectual — has only performed one miracle since his death in 1890, and that seems to some people to be less than decisive.
Jack Sullivan, a 70-year-old deacon in Boston, has been cured of back and leg pain after praying to Newman and doctors have testified that there is no medical explanation for his cure.
But is one such miracle enough? And doesn’t back pain sometimes heal itself spontaneously?
It’s incredible, and somewhat disturbing, to witness somebody, who most people consider to be perfectly sane, seriously suggesting that a dead man needs to do more if he’s to achieve sainthood
I just caught the end of The Week in Politics last night.
RTE Journalist, Sean O’Rourke, was light-heartedly asking the Tanaiste, Mary Coughlin, when the bye elections were going to be held.
Ms. Incompetent was quite firm. There was no need to hold bye elections as the people had adequate representation as things stood.
In other words, this arrogant politician, and her cabal of a party, would decide what level of representation the Irish people were going to get.
In any self-respecting democracy a journalist would have torn strips off her, would have demanded to know who the hell she thought she was reducing the democratic rights of the people.
Unfortunately, because RTE is a captured organisation, we are likely to see a continuation of this old pal attitude to politicians instead of the focused, no nonsense questioning common in other jurisdictions.
Copy to:
The Week in Politics
I have no problem with the Fine Gael rebels who have now accepted a place on Kenny’s front bench. To my knowledge, none of them actually said they would refuse to serve with Kenny. Politics is politics.
Richard Bruton is, however, a different matter. He led the heave and, if memory serves me correctly, he clearly stated that it would be hypocritical of him to accept a front bench position should he lose the challenge.
His failure to stand by his principles confirms his poor leadership pedigree and while he’s likely to be a minister in the next government it will almost certainly mark the high point of his political career.
From the Attic Archives.
Letter to the Cork Examiner in (I think) 1991.
Sir,
We, the undersigned, have been concerned for some time about the manner in which the Irish State is constituted.
We believe that the machinery of government, the way it is financed, and the way it redistributes wealth, are paralyzing government, frustrating initiative and enterprise, undermining public morale and causing the growing emigration of intelligent and well-educated young people.
These defects, we believe, are inherent in the State itself, as it is now constituted, and will defeat the best efforts of any political party, Cabinet, Dail or local government council.
Our system of government was not designed to suit the needs of the Irish nation today. It is largely inherited from the British government in Ireland in the 19th century, or derived, uncritically, from contemporary practice in the United Kingdom.
This inadequate model has been made worse by the politicians and officials of our centralizing government, who believe they can manage Irish life better than the people directly involved in it, regionally, locally or professionally.
We believe that a better system of government, serving the needs of the Irish people today, can be devised and implemented.
We believe, moreover, that the usefulness of this enterprise would extend beyond its direct, practical benefits.
The creation of a new, distinctively Irish State, tailored to our particular needs and purposes, and exemplary in some respects, would overcome, to a considerable degree, our present crisis of national identity.
With all of this in mind, we have met and founded the Constitution Club.
The purpose of this club is, first, to persuade citizens and politicians that the State needs to be reorganized; secondly, to promote thought and discussion on how a framework of government might be created which would release the skills and energies in our society while increasing democratic accountability.
The club will provide a centre and a forum for new thinking on the following themes: National government, government of the communities (regional and sub-regional), the financing of government, government financing of citizens.
Our first meeting, at which the public will be welcome, will be held in Buswell’s Hotel, Dublin, on Wednesday, November 5th at 6 pm.
Dr. Roy Johnston will speak about ‘Innovation, Employment and Regional Government’.
Anyone who has done some thinking on any of the themes mentioned above, and who wishes to present his or her ideas to a sympathetic and critical audience, should send a summary of them to the Secretary, The Constitution Club, 28 Emmet Road, Dublin 8.
Finally, any individual or group outside Dublin who wishes to found a Constitution Club locally is welcome to contact us by writing to the same address.
Tom Barrington
Raymond Crotty
Desmond Fennell
Roy Johnston
Michael O’Flanagan
John Robb
John Roden
NAMA to go after homes of wealthy developers. (Cowen and Lenihan reject plea to spare family houses).
Cowen ignored lobbying by CIF for builders.
It’s right to seize developer homes
The above three, tough talking, headlines from yesterday’s Irish Independent give the impression that the Government are going all out to deal with those nasty property developers, that the wealthy are not being let off the hook at the expense of the hard pressed taxpayer.
And that, of course, is exactly the purpose of the propaganda which, as always, is gratefully lapped up by naïve journalists.
Government ‘sources’ feed journalists the story that NAMA will move to seize the personal assets and houses of property developers in the best interests of the taxpayer.
The tough talking, no nonsense sheriff, Brian Lenihan, even included a provision in the NAMA Act to pursue developers who transferred their assets to their wives or children in an attempt to avoid paying their debts.
Alas, it’s nothing but the usual waffle designed to fool long suffering taxpayers (and journalists) as the following quote demonstrates.
However, the NAMA Act does state that nothing in its provisions will interfere with the 1976 Family Home Protection Act, which prohibits the sale, mortgage or remortgage of a family home in Ireland without the express consent of both spouses.
That may make it harder for NAMA to take away family homes from property developers with large debts.
Letter in today’s Irish Independent.
CF sufferers’ hope is fading fast
It has been revealed that the tender process for the long-awaited cystic fibrosis (CF) unit is not working, as the lowest tender failed to get the required finance in time.
The unique tender process, under which the company needs to finance the build and get paid on completion, was given to us as a solution when we campaigned to the Government last year. It is now more obvious than ever that this was a ploy to keep us quiet.
We are tired of writing letters to newspapers and TDs. We are tired of giving out. We are tired of being optimistic. It is unfair to expect us to fight again for more broken promises.
The awareness of the plight of people with CF is at an all-time high. Everyone knows the risks of us picking up potentially fatal infections on admission to shared wards; that our next hospital visit could be our last.
What we are asking for is standard in every other first-world country. We are not looking for gold-plated oxygen tanks!
Our hope is fading and we are asking for your help once again. I don’t want this fight to end when we are eventually silenced by picking up an infection in a sub-standard facility of “care”.
What more can we all say?
Maria Daly
Person with CF,
Carlow Person of the Year — Courage Award 2010,
Marino, Dublin 3
What we are asking for is standard in every other first-world country.
Unfortunately for Maria and all CF sufferers, they are living in a dangerously corrupt Third World country.
Two previous blogs on this disgraceful situation.
“I have absolutely no faith in the HSE or in Mary Harney” Bernadette Cooney, recently deceased. RIP
The Pensions Board has just published its Annual Report predictably accompanied by the usual hand wringing (RTE, 3rd report, 1st item).
There are two principal aspects to the report – risky investment in shares and property that have resulted in serious losses and major theft which has been going on since the 1960s.
The media has focused almost entirely on the risky investment aspect; the ongoing theft is largely ignored.
By law, pension contributions must be deducted from workers salaries and paid into the Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme. Instead of paying into the scheme a great many employers are keeping the money for themselves.
Not only is this stealing from their employees but it also leaves employees and their families exposed should there be an accident or death.
In 2004 the Irish Examiner reported that up to 50,000 construction employees were being cheated of their pension and sickness benefits worth an estimated €35m annually.
In 2006 Socialist TD Joe Higgins estimated the theft from workers at €120 million per year.
Either way, we are talking about the theft of significant amounts of money. So what does the chief executive of the Pensions Board, Brendan Kennedy, have to say about the matter?
I see it as theft, we don’t prosecute under the Theft Act but there’s no question, it’s taking money that belongs to people.
And what are the consequences?
For the workers involved, as far as possible, it’s our top priority to make sure the employer pays up.
Unfortunately, for a large number of these employers given the state the construction industry the money may not be there.
This exchange is worth a closer look.
It’s theft but we don’t prosecute under the Theft Act.
The theft has been going on since the 1960s and, to my knowledge, not a single construction boss has been charged under the Theft Act.
If true, this failure to prosecute under the Theft Act, effectively acts as a protection for thieving construction bosses.
It’s our top priority to make sure the employer pays up.
This stance is very similar to that taken by the so called Financial Regulator. So long as the robbed money is returned no further action is thought necessary.
This, in effect, is an admission by a so called state regulatory agency that wholesale theft by employers is not really a serious matter.
Unfortunately, for a large number of these employers, given the state the construction industry, the money may not be there.
The suggestion here seems to be that nothing can be done to an employer who steals from his employees if that employer hits hard times – in other words theft from workers seems to be an acceptable money saving strategy.
Later on in the year the Pensions Ombudsman, Paul Kenny, will be publishing his annual report. Kenny is a parrot of the Pensions Board boss, he too knows workers are being robbed but just wrings his hands when it comes to making the thieves accountable.
Here’s what he had to say in 2006.
Employers have actually been deducting contributions from the wages of employees and not paying on to the scheme and that, quite frankly, is theft.
Copy to:
Pensions Board
The following sectarian prayer is recited every day in Dail Eireann.
Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspirations
and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance; that every word and
work of ours may always begin from Thee, and by Thee be happily
ended; through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
The prayer is a direct appeal to the Catholic god for assistance in the running of the country.
Other gods, for example, Muslim, Jewish, the pantheon of voodoo gods and the god of Scientology, are all ignored.
The daily recitation of this prayer is an insult to rationality. It’s an insult to all those many people who do not believe in the power/magic of the Catholic/Christian god.
It’s an insult to the growing number of people who don’t believe in any god whatsoever.
Most of all, however, it’s an insult to democracy.