Our esteemed Senators have been at it again. Hold onto your hats. Senator Donie Cassidy kicked it off:
Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail): Senators Fitzgerald, Coghlan, Quinn and Norris congratulated the Jekyll and Hyde foundation for the wonderful work it is doing. Senator Fitzgerald outlined the huge difference between the cost of the services being provided by the foundation and those provided by the HSE. It is something we must examine—–
Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael): It is the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation.
Dominic Hannigan (Labour): Jekyll and Hyde is something different.
Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail): My apologies. It is the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation….
Your tax euros hard at work there.
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 7th February 2010 Categories Irish Politics6 Comments on Jekyll & Hyde
Cowen to appear for bank inquiry?
You would have to wonder whether you could call the proposal for a bank inquiry an 'inquiry' at all. It certainly does not appear to have much in the way of grilling the people who caused the mess, or of dealing with the decisions post September 2008, all of which were the critical ones.
I made the point earlier to Senator Dan Boyle (who is said to have offered his resignation over the inquiry). I tweeted to him: "…forgive my cynicism then. Will I see TV pictures of our leaders for the past 12 years being held to account for their decisions?"
To which he replied:
Brian Cowen, at least, is a start. But Bertie Ahern, being the Taoiseach who oversaw the entire period would be another must see. And Messrs McCreevy (Finance), Cullen, Dempsey, Roche and Gormley (Environment) would be others. As I said to Mr Boyle, accountability behind closed doors is not accountability. Accountability must be seen to be done, a bit like justice. Getting a report at the end of a process is not enough.
But then accountability seems to be a rather novel concept to most of our politicians.
[cross posted to thestory.ie]
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 1st February 2010 10th December 2015 Categories Irish Politics4 Comments on Cowen to appear for bank inquiry?
Enterprise Ireland grants
I have received copies of all financial support given by Enterprise Ireland for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. It details tens of millions of euro worth of grants to companies throughout the country. The supports are broken down by county.
For now I have not 'cleaned' the data, ie I have not removed spaces and extra sentences that are not needed for the purposes of better presentation. The document is 'as
is' and is based on PDFs which have been imported into Google spreadsheets.
Enterprise Ireland grants 2005 – 2008
You can view each year of data by clicking the respective year at the bottom of the spreadsheet.
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 26th January 2010 Categories Irish Politics8 Comments on Enterprise Ireland grants
Moriarty transcripts
Last month I put an FOI request in with the Department of the Taoiseach for the following:
(1) All transcripts of public sittings of the Moriarty Tribunal from its inception to the date on which this request is received.
(2) The contract for transcription services and a breakdown of fees charged for transcription services.
(3) The breakdown of fees for the maintenance and building of the Moriarty Tribunal website, and the contract for this.
Today I received the reply. I had to read it twice to let it sink in.
Moriarty reply
I can, in some way, live with the fact that the taxpayer spent the bones of €1 million on transcription fees since the inception of the Tribunal in 1998. But I cannot fathom how a) the transcripts are not available online and b) that I have to pay (again) to see the transcripts of the Tribunal and c) that Doyle Court Reports retains copyright on transcripts of public sittings of a Tribunal of Inquiry setup by the Department and paid for by the Irish people.
I called Doyle Court Reporters this morning and they were very courteous and helpful. I asked for a quote as to how much I would have to pay for digital (.doc) copies of all 370 days of public sittings of the Moriarty Tribunal. They called me back a short time later, stating that for all days the cost would be €16,600 @ €45 per day. But if I was bulk buying they would be prepared to offer a discount of 25%.
I did suggest to DCR that since the public had already paid nearly €1 million for the transcripts, it seems a little odd that I would, as a citizen, have to fork out another €16,600 to get copies of the transcripts. DCR were again courteous and helpful, and suggested I speak with the Moriarty Tribunal.
I then called the Moriarty Tribunal, where I spoke with the registrar, Siobhan Hayes. First I asked if the Tribunal had copies of all transcripts, to which the answer was yes. Are these subject to FOI I then asked… to which she eventually replied no, and that copyright was with DCR. I then asked why other Tribunals, such as Mahon and Morris, had published transcripts on their websites, and Moriarty ones were unavailable. I was told that the original agreement was that copyright would stay with DCR, and that was the way it was. I then asked for a copy of the contract or agreement between the Tribunal and DCR in relation to stenography services. Siobhan said she would get back to me on this issue.
Of course a couple of questions arise. First is whether the Department of the Taoiseach does hold the transcripts, but simply pointed me in the direction of Doyle Court Reporters for copies of them. Second is how, exactly, copyright on transcripts of a public sitting of a Tribunal applies.
Third, and most importantly, is why the transcripts are unavailable for public consumption as a matter of public record. These are historically important transcripts containing the sworn evidence of former Taoisigh including Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern, as well as other former senior ministers, civil servants and businessmen, all in relation to extremely serious issues of public concern. Indeed when a Tribunal is established it is invariably included in the Terms of Reference that it concerns "definite matters of urgent public importance".
Yet in relation to a matter of urgent public importance, for a Tribunal that is shortly to issue its second and final report, I can't see who said what in relation to anything on any given day, whatsoever.
Mad, isn't it?
Morris transcript FOI
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 18th January 2010 Categories Irish Politics3 Comments on Moriarty transcripts
Another year down… a happy new year to everyone!
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 1st January 2010 Categories Blogging4 Comments on Happy new year
Morgan Kelly
I can't really add much to Mr Kelly's excellent analysis. What it says to me is that the next 12 to 18 months are going to be among the most difficult, if not the most difficult, time this country has faced. I encourage everyone to read the entire document.
I will emphasise his conclusion:
Despite having pushed the Irish state close to, and quite possibly beyond, the limits ofits fiscal capacity with the NAMA scheme, the Irish banks remain as zombies whose only priority is to reduce their debt, and who face complete destruction from mortgage losses. The issue therefore is not whether the Irish bank bailout will restore the Irish banks sothat they can function as independent commercial entities: it cannot. Rather it is whether the Irish government's commitments to bank bond holders when added to its existing spend-ing commitments, will overwhelm the fiscal capacity of the Irish state, forcing outside entities such as the IMF and EU to intervene and impose a resolution on the Irish banking system.
The Irish Credit Bubble (UCD)
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 25th December 2009 Categories Irish Politics, NAMA3 Comments on Morgan Kelly
The Regulator
I don't want this post to seem like an "I told you so" post. But it might appear that way. I started irishcorruption.com/publicinquiry.eu back in 2005. One of the biggest issues myself and my uncle Anthony covered, and still cover on that blog, is the lack of regulation of the banks. And when the country was in a credit boom, and nobody, or at least very few, were asking questions about regulation of the banks, myself, and to a much deeper degree Anthony where highlighting this issue ad nauseum. Almost all of these posts were also copied to the office of the Financial Regulator.
August 22, 2005 Toothless IFSRA
August 25, 2005 Allied Irish Banks investigates itself
September 28, 2005 Banana Republic
October 10, 2005 Irish/Italian accountability
November 15, 2005 The sheriff is not for the good guys
December 13, 2005 Irish (Banks) Mafia
December 23, 2005 Legal actions, dodgy dealings and resignations
January 9, 2006 The (Irish financial) Wild West Show
March 24, 2006 Still waiting for law enforcement
March 26, 2006 Former AIB executives settle with Revenue for €323,313
June 7, 2006 Ireland – The Wild West of European finance
August 1, 2006 Irish Financial Regulator – Bizarre and toothless
August 2, 2006 Rampant corruption – rampant profits
September 28, 2006 A corrupt state
October 13, 2006 Bank robbers and bank robbers
December 12, 2006 Failing to make connections
December 14, 2006 Maintaining the illusion
January 23, 2007 State contempt for consumers
March 20, 2007 Irish Financial Regulator – Betraying the consumer
April 4, 2007 The Financial Regulator, banks and credit unions
April 25, 2007 Insider watchdog
May 3, 2007 It's all in the mind
June 17, 2007 AIB: Still ripping off customers with impunity
June 13, 2007 Man of steel turns to straw
August 23, 2007 A corrupt and secretive financial market
August 21, 2007 Dublin – A conduit for dodgy deals?
August 27, 2007 Dublin operation – A sloppily-run pig sty
And that's just the first two years of blog posts. Never let anyone tell you that no one could have seen what was coming.
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 21st December 2009 Categories Corruption, Irish Politics2 Comments on The Regulator
More NAMA stuff
Two good articles by IT journalists over the weekend.
First up, Simon Carswell, via FoI:
THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) told the Government that the definition of "long-term economic value" on bank loans in the draft Nama Bill was "masterful" as it was "sufficiently specific" and "sufficiently vague" to allow "appropriate flexibility".
Steven Seelig, an adviser at the IMF, made the comments in an e-mailed response to a request by the Department of Finance for his opinion on the draft National Asset Management Agency Bill published last August.
"It is both sufficiently specific and sufficiently vague to allow appropriate flexibility. I hope you can retain this language," said Mr Seelig, an expert on "bad banks", in a private e-mail to department officials sent on August 25th.
The e-mail was among records released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act relating to representations made to the department on Nama.
And Laura Slattery, also via FoI:
THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency (Nama) should be required to register with the Land Registry or the Registry of Deeds, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has been advised.
In correspondence released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, the Law Society of Ireland and the Property Registration Authority both expressed concern about the exemption for Nama assets to register in the Land Registry or the Registry of Deeds.
The society wrote to Mr Lenihan in September to say "normal conveyancing practice" should not be disrupted by Nama and that the agency should be required to register its interest in a land bank or property title.
The Property Registration Authority said the exemption for Nama assets to register "would appear to run counter to public policy and the necessity of transparency and reliability in land registers".
Registration on a State register "provides clarity and certainty", John Coleman, chairman of the Property Registration Authority, wrote to the Department of Finance. Other letters written to Mr Lenihan expressing concerns about the workings of Nama included a note from Bernard Allen TD, chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts.
I will be seeking copies of these FoI in my own future FoIs.
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 20th December 2009 Categories Irish Politics, NAMA2 Comments on More NAMA stuff
Fuck you Deputy Stagg
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 11th December 2009 Categories Irish Politics12 Comments on Fuck you Deputy Stagg
NAMA and risk reports
[Crossposted to thestory.ie]
I will post the document first and tell the story below, it's worth a look. The information contained in this FOI, is I believe, valuable.
Cost-benefit analyses, impact reports or preparatory reports for NAMA
Why is this information valuable? It contains a timeline of what companies were involved in consulting the Government on the formation of NAMA, and gives us insight into the process. It also contains previously unknown titles, such as HSBC's "Project Neo". This is likely relates to the rumoured formation of a "New Anglo Irish Bank" in 2010. And it gives us an idea as to the level of involvement of Merrill, Arthur Cox, Rotschilds, PwC and HSBC.
A little bit of a saga ended today, finally. It is worth noting the dates involved in this request.
On August 17 I sought the following information from the Department of Finance:
1) A list of all cost-benefit analyses, impact reports or preparatory reports that have been carried out by the Department in relation to the proposed National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). Please can you list the title of the document, its date, and by whom it was written.
2) A list of all cost-benefit analyses, impact reports, or preparatory reports that have been carried out by people or companies working on behalf of, or at the request of the Department, in relation to the proposed National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). Please can you list the title of the document, its date, and by whom it was written.
I received my acknowledgment as standard, which was followed up with an email. The email said it was unlikely my request would be successful but if I wanted, I could be given information outside of my request. I went along with this and it resulted in this blog post on September 30. That's in and around the 20 day limit under the Act.
But I didn't feel the information provided was sufficient, and I always wanted information should my request be refused. So I said I still wanted to proceed with my original request. The Department then took the date of my re-request as the initial date, thus giving them another 20 working days. This brought the result of the request into early November, despite an initial request in August.
Numerous emails were sent, and replied to. The civil servants involved were "busy" with NAMA and it was taking longer than normal to reply to my request. Last week I had enough, and wrote an email seeking an internal review as my request was now a deemed refusal since the 20 day limit had expired. Today, December 8, nearly four months later, I got the reply.
Author Gavin SheridanPosted on 8th December 2009 Categories Irish Politics, NAMA1 Comment on NAMA and risk reports