Tag Archives: statements

Health Minister Simon Harris

This afternoon.

A reduced number of Dáil members are meeting to hear statements on health and social protection matters concerning the coronavirus.

It followed calls for the members not to sit.

Meanwhile…

Yikes.

Anyone?

Watch live here

Earlier: Meanwhile Not In The Dáil

From top: Fine Gael TD Seán Kyne, Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin

This afternoon.

In the Dáil.

TDs are making statements in respect of the ‘Votegate’ report.

Fine Gael TD Seán Kyne (top) branded the actions of the TDs involved “thoughtless, cavalier and arrogant”.

He also said their behaviour has “damaged” the Dáil.

Watch live here

Earlier: Meanwhile, In The Dáil

From top: Ex-CEO of FAI John Delaney; a statement issued by the Ireland’s four provincial football associations about Mr Delaney; a statement released by Limerick FC about Mr Delaney; a tweet last night by Neil O’Riordan, of The Irish Sun

On March 29.

The four provincial football associations released a collective statement praising former CEO of the FAI John Delaney’s contribution to Irish football.

It followed Mr Delaney stepping down from his CEO role and being made executive vice-president of the Football Association of Ireland, days after a March 17 report in The Sunday Times revealed he gave a loan of €100,000 to the FAI in 2017.

Almost three weeks on since the story about the loan broke, the circumstances surrounding the loan are still being sought by Sport Ireland while Mr Delaney will appear before the Oireachtas sports committee next week.

On the same date as the statement from the provincial associations, March 29, the Dublin & District Schoolboys League also released a statement. The statements are very similar.

Then, on Tuesday, Limerick Football Club’s chairman Pat O’Sullivan released a statement expressing the club’s confidence in Mr Delaney.

Again, the Limerick FC statement was very similar to those of the provincial associations and the DDSL.

Last night, Waterford FC owner Lee Power released a statement praising Mr Delaney.

After Neil O’Riordan, of The Irish Sun, tweeted that the figures in the statement were incorrect, the club amended the statement.

Further to this…

You Boys In Green tweetz:

WOW. Passage in Limerick FC statement praising John Delaney is, word for word, the exact same as the original statement from the Provincial Councils. Is there a sample being send to leagues/clubs? All so so similar.

If any club or League has been contacted and asked to make a statement backing John Delaney and wish to contact us, please get in touch. DM here or email youboysingreen@gmail.com Total anonymity, of course.

Meanwhile…

At last night’s Under-17 European Championships draw at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, where there was a drinks reception and dinner – which members of the Oireachtas sports committee were invited to shortly after the loan story broke

Sigh.

Context

Earlier: Mazars Balls

Related: John Delaney understood the value of local support and he hopes it will allow him to resist the pressure from outside the FAI (Neil O’Riordan, The Irish Sun)



From top; David McCourt and Denis Naughten; tweet from Government official Fergal Mulligan responding to a Sunday Business Post article on the National Broadband Plan bidding process;

The Dáil heard statements last night on Peter Smyth’s report into the National Broadband Plan procurement process.

Several TDs raised tweets posted by a Fergal Mulligan in response to an article in the Sunday Business Post.

Mr Mulligan called the story “a lot of theoretical nonsense” and that “we” had “dropped 20 million getting the right advice” on what was the “only game in town”.

Yesterday, The Times Ireland edition reported that Mr Mulligan is a senior government official and programme director for the National Broadband Plan.

Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley was the first yesterday to raise the matter:

Timmy Dooley: “The account in question has, I understand, tweeted around five times since it was created. The communications protocol I outlined earlier states that, as a general matter, members of the NBP team shall not discuss or communicate in any way matters relating to the procurement outside of the NBP team.

…It goes on to state that where communications with a third party takes place, whether oral or written, involving a member of the NBP team, the NBP team member will state that they cannot discuss any matters relating to the procurement process. Can the Minister confirm that this person is in fact who he says he is on Twitter?

“Has he carried out any investigation to establish that? Does he believe it is appropriate for the programme director to engage in this kind of communication at this stage of the process? Why did the programme director take it upon himself to make these unsolicited comments?”

Continue reading →

From top: Lucia and Jim O’Farrell hold a picture of their late son, Shane; Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness

Yesterday evening.

In the Dáil.

Further statements were made in respect of Judge Peter Charleton’s recent report on the Disclosures Tribunal which found that Sgt Maurice McCabe was the victim of a campaign of calumny carried out by former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and former Garda Press Officer Supt Dave Taylor.

Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness (above) told the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan that the Government’s apology to Sgt Maurice McCabe “the most blatant, brazen piece of hypocrisy I have seen in a long time”.

At the tribunal, Mr McGuinness told Judge Charleton that when he was the chairman of Public Accounts Committee on January 23, 2014, the then Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan told Mr McGuinness that Sgt McCabe “fiddles with kids”.

He said Mr Callinan also referred to both Sgt McCabe and former Garda John Wilson as “fucking headbangers”.

And he told the judge that, the following day, during a meeting in a car park of Bewley’s Hotel on the Naas Road, Dublin, on Friday, January 24, 2014, Mr Callinan told Mr McGuinness that Sgt McCabe sexually abused his children and nieces.

Judge Charleton accepted Mr McGuinness’s evidence.

Further to this…

In his statement about the tribunal’s report, Mr McGuinness told Minister Flanagan…

“First, I compliment Mr Justice Charleton on the efficient way in which he dealt with the tribunal and on the clear report he submitted afterwards. He was unambiguous in his comments on the various issues raised. He has shown the Government and the State how a tribunal can be run efficiently and over a short time.

“I also acknowledge Sergeant Maurice McCabe’s role in the tribunal and its outcome. I am satisfied that the tribunal heard his version of events, and the tribunal was clear in its acknowledgement that he was vindicated in everything he did and said.

“As for the Government and the apology to Sergeant McCabe, it was the most blatant, brazen piece of hypocrisy I have seen in a long time. Sergeant McCabe was telling his story for 12 years, describing what was happening and highlighting issues in the force, yet the Government stood idly by and did nothing.

“In fact, the time for the apology and intervention was when the current Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, said as a Minister that Maurice McCabe’s actions were distinguished, not disgusting.

“However, the Government sat on its hands and watched as that family was put through torture during those years.

The Minister for Justice and Equality continues to preside over a Department that appears to be dysfunctional. I have seen no evidence of the reform that was promised. There are many examples of that, such as the current hearings of the Committee of Public Accounts with prison officers, including Noel McGree.

To say that the replies to all the questions I have asked in this House were economical with the truth and misleading in their content is an understatement.

“The Department feels it is okay to stand over that. Now that the Minister has been converted to examining the actions of the Department and is showing a willingness to say when he is wrong, will he tell John Wilson, Noel McGree and the two female whistleblowers I am aware of that he was wrong?

“Will he intervene now and tell them he is sorry for what the State has done to them? Will he give them a chance to get their lives back on track, as he should? I doubt it, because he does not have the backbone to do it. That is the sorry aspect of what is happening.

“The tribunal came and went and left its report behind. The Minister appears to think that the dogs will bark and the caravans will move on. However, the country has taken a turn.

There is a demand now for truth and justice from all of us who serve, but the people are not getting truth and justice from the Department; they are getting anything but that.

“The Government has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to court or through tribunals before it will acknowledge what is happening to individuals in the employment of the State. I have given the Minister the examples and I have asked him to intervene. Perhaps he will tell us what he intends to do about it.

A motion was passed by the House relating to the investigation of the death of Shane O’Farrell. The Government has taken no action to implement the desire of the Opposition to have that matter investigated.

It lets Shane’s mother, Lucia, his father and sisters wallow in the sorrow of losing him and will not intervene. The Government fails to understand the devastation it has visited on their lives by not recognising them.

“Ultimately, the motion was passed in the House but nothing was done about it. If the confidence and supply arrangement meant anything it should make a difference in people’s lives. Under that arrangement Fianna Fáil should step up to the plate and tell the Government to act on the motion or else.

“That is what we are coming to because the State and the Government are presiding over the beating up of our citizens by Departments.

“Similar to the actions of Sergeant Maurice McCabe, other State employees have come forward and given disclosures. To say they have been treated badly is, again, an understatement. Their lives have been ruined. In some cases they are professionals and their careers have been ruined.

There are other cases, such as Douglas Fannin and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Department has not dealt with it. It just continues to ignore it and to pull people through the courts.

“Last week, the Department of Defence went to the High Court. The Department was totally wrong and had given incorrect and inaccurate replies to parliamentary questions.

“In the Morrissey v State case the Department of Defence lost. Thankfully that young man is now taking his place in the Cadet School.

“I have just highlighted a few cases but I shall also speak about one other case where, again, the House set up an investigation and to this day we do not know what is happening.

I refer to the Grace case. Individuals who were mentally and physically challenged and non-verbal were abused while in the care of the State. The State is sitting on its hands rather than dealing efficiently and factually with the cases of Grace and the 47 other individuals.

“What more do we have to do in this House in the context of debating the issues, of highlighting the issues and of getting action from a Government that quite frankly does not seem to care?

The only reason the Minister apologised is because he was flushed out and the matter came out into the open. The State could not beat Maurice McCabe but there are many others out there who the Government seems prepared to beat.

The Government is currently dealing with the case of John Barrett. I wonder why that is coming about and what is going to happen.

“When individual citizens raise issues in this State, the Government’s answer is to bring the house down around the person, to push him or her to the pin of the collar and to break careers, families and health. There is no response from the Government and no showing of humanity or compassion.

“There is no attempt to bring in the necessary reforms to stop all of this from happening again and again. People turn to this House for direction and leadership. They turn to this House for protection. They believe they are doing the right thing.

If one was to ask Maurice McCabe I would say he is doubtful whether he would do it all over again. He has, however, done an enormous service to the State and he is to be commended on what he did. He should be protected for what he did. The others should also be protected for what they did.

“I have given the names to the Minister, and I have often mentioned them in public. Out of all of those cases and from the motion that was passed, I believe the Shane O’Farrell case is one that clearly demonstrates to people that the State and the Government have no interest unless they are pushed to the point where action has to happen. By that point, the families are generally broken.

“The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and his Government, have an awful lot to answer for. The political system in this House has an awful lot to answer for. The confidence and supply arrangement has a lot to answer for because it does not demand transparency and accountability.

“Where it sees the need for accountability, such as the motion on the Shane O’Farrell case, it is not prepared to do anything else. That is just an exercise in voicing an opinion about things rather than an exercise to put in place fair play, justice and an acknowledgment that the State should not beat up families or ignore them.

“The State should do the opposite; it should show compassion, humanity and an attempt to deal with the reality of the lives of the people who are being destroyed by the inaction of the State.”

Transcript via Oireachtas.ie

Previously: ‘We Are Part Of A Cover-Up’

‘Delay, Deny, Lie Then Cover-Up’

In the Limerick Leader

Fintan Walsh reports:

Gardaí will soon be able to use mobile phones to access CCTV footage, record statements and check vehicle registrations, thanks to an app the Limerick division is piloting.

Speaking after a joint policing committee meeting at City Hall, Supt Derek Smart said that the ambitious scheme is “at a very advanced stage” and is being driven by Chief Supt David Sheahan.

Another feature being considered by the gardaí is the installation of CCTV access in garda patrol vehicles.

…Explaining the app’s concept, Supt Smart told the Leader last Friday: “If I am in the patrol car I will be able to check, if I see a car in front of me, I can put the reg number into my phone and I can check it. I don’t have to ring people inside in Henry Street to check it.

“You will be able to do it out and about on the street. There will be all apps built into specific phones in regard to it. It basically replaces the notebook. But it becomes a modern tool as well. You can go back into the station, you dock your phone, you download into the system and it is recorded there.”

New garda app piloted in Limerick (Limerick Leader)

This afternoon.

In the Dáil.

TDs made statements on the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, received by Fine Gael’s Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

It followed the acquittal of former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Sean Fitzpatrick earlier this week, after lead investigator from the ODCE shredded documents which were relevant to the investigation.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said:

“The first thing I think we need to say, in relation to this debate, is that Ireland doesn’t do prosecution of white collar crime and it’s not just this collapse of this trial or the acquittal of Seanie Fitzpatrick, but it’s, for decades now, we’ve seen that thread.

“We’ve seen the underfunding of resources, of agencies that are supposed to be tackling white collar crime, we see staff resources being cut and we see our legislative framework, that should underpin a strong, robust anti-corruption and white collar crime agenda, simply not there.

“My colleague spoke about the request, when the ODCE was established in 2001, and it was established as a result of the tribunals of investigation, the massive corruption that we’ve seen in those tribunals, tribunals that span three decades, yet only one conviction because of corruption.

“Despite the fact that we know that politicians were up to their neck in it, in relation to brown envelopes. Despite the fact that we know that people had benefitted, in terms of their own lifestyle as a result of backhanders given to people in influential places but CAB didn’t go in and seize the assets at that time, because there’s one rule for certain individuals and another rule for others.

“But when it was established in 2001, within a number of years, the director was requesting resources. The director wrote to Micheál Martin, who was the line minister at that time in 2005, and continued to write to him over a period of time, telling him that the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement was wholly inadequately resourced.

“Minister Martin at the time refused the request and at a time when tens of thousands of additional public sector workers were bing recruited, not an additional staff member was given to the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement.

“Bertie Ahern, sitting for years where you’re sitting today, and said that they needed to wait their turn. And, at the same time, at the same time, Seanie Fitzpatrick and his ilk were setting in train the economic disaster that people the length and breath of this country had to endure over the last ten years. And that is a symbol of how this country deals with white collar crime.Continue reading →

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This afternoon.

In the Dáil as statements are given on mental health services – following news last week that €12million of the €36million mental health budget is being transferred to other areas in the Department of Health.

John Mc tweetz:

Really looks like they give a fupp doesn’t it…

Previously: Fear Of The Unknown

Watch live here