Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland tweetz:
Leitrim Lodge Bed and Breakfast Emergency Direct Provision centre has some seriously infantilising rules. Asylum seekers to remain in their rooms unless using the bathroom. No visitors permitted (prisoners are allowed visitors). Going without food for 15 hours (no food allowed in rooms).
Previously: Treated Like Children
Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon; Labour TD Alan Kelly
This morning.
The Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon is fielding many questions about the Public Services Card at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee.
But separate to the Public Services Card, and in response to a question from Labour TD Alan Kelly, Ms Dixon told the committee that, in terms of the supervision and enforcement of data protection law, Irish taxpayers will incur costs for having multi-nationals headquartered in Ireland.
Ms Dixon said:
“Once the Irish DPC [Data Protection Commissioner] starts administering fines and sanctions on companies, there has been a debate about whether all of that goes to the Irish Exchequer and whether that isn’t shared across the EU member states.
“At the moment, it’s our understanding that it goes to the Irish Exchequer.
“So, already, there’s an opposite debate to the question you’re opening up which is that: well is that fair? If Ireland supervises most of these big tech companies and there are infringements and fines, does Ireland get to keep the fines? So that’s an open question that’s ben raised a number of times.
“In relation to the costs, I think it’s well possible that the Irish taxpayer will end up, by virtue of these companies being headquartered here, incurring costs.
“The Irish taxpayer has incurred costs already in relation to the case that you referenced that’s before the Court of Justice at the European Union on transfers of data because it arose from a complaint by Max Schrems against Facebook Ireland.
“Facebook Ireland being located here means that we are responsible.
“However, under this Co-operation and Consistency Mechanism that operates around the one-stop shop in the EU now, if there’s a dispute in relation to the findings that I make – so I’ve to circulate a draft decision in relation to any of these cases that concern multi-nationals to my fellow EU Data Protection authorities.
“And if ultimately they have a different view, that I can’t reconcile into my findings, I institute a dispute resolution mechanism before the European Data Protection Board and it may take over the decision making. And if a company affected by that decision disagrees with it, it takes an annulment action to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
“So, there will be a certain number of cases that may end up being taken out of Ireland’s hands because of disagreement between data protection authorities and the European Data Protection Board will then have to bear the cost for defending those cases before the CJU.
“But, undoubtedly, the effect of having the multi-nationals headquartered in Ireland is going to give rise to costs for Ireland in terms of the supervision and enforcement of data protection law.”
Watch the proceedings live here
Jacques Chirac in Dublin with With then Taoisigh John Bruton in 1996 (top) and Bertie Ahern (above) in 2000
This morning.
Jacques Chirac, the French president who led his country into Europe’s common currenc, has died aged 86.
After leaving office, Chirac was pursued by allegations of corruption from his years as mayor of Paris, becoming France’s first former head of state to stand trial and be convicted since World War II.
He also coined a phrase that has become a landmark of France’s climate policies since: “our house is burning down and we’re blind to it,” he said in a speech in 2002.
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This morning.
Buswell’s Hotel, Dublin 2
Antoinette Keegan (above centre) and her mother Christine (above left) and Eugene Kelly (above right) holding pictures of Antoinette’s sisters who perished in the fire, Martina (16) and Mary (19) following a special meeting of the campaign group Justice For Stardust attended by Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan (top right).
The Attorney General yesterday evening confirmed that new inquests will be held for the 48 victims of the 1981 Stardust fire. It follows a request last April from the families of the victims.
More to follow.
This morning.
The Public Accounts Committee’s chairman Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming gave the committee a brief update from the gardai on the thousands of drivers who were wrongfully convicted, and wrongfully given penalty points, by gardai between 2006 and 2016.
In April 2016, it emerged that some 146,865 summonses had been issued incorrectly for motorists who weren’t given an opportunity to pay a fixed penalty notice.
Of those 146,865 summonses, 14,700 cases resulted in a penalty being imposed by the courts.
At the same time, it emerged gardai had claimed to have carried out one million breath tests which never took place.
This morning, Mr Fleming said that, of those 14,700 people, fines have to be reimbursed to approximately 12,000 people.
And he said, of those 12,000 people, the gardai have only been able to track down 4,000 of these motorists.
Mr Fleming said:
“So in otherwords, what they’re [gardai] saying is they want to go back into court to get the case struck out and the [penalty] points removed but they need the consent of the person before they bring their name into court.”
“Out of the 12,000, there’s only 4,000 consents that have been granted to date.”
Mr Fleming added that the gardai also said that they have yet to meet or speak to a motorist who lost their driver’s licence as a consequence of the blunder – despite several people making this claim on TV or radio back in 2016.
Mr Fleming added:
“Here we are, it’s not a great administration system, three years on, that only a third of the people have been tied down. It speaks for itself.”
He added that perhaps some of the motorists affected have already had the incorrect points extinguished from their licence, due to time lapsed.
Previously: A Breathtaking Timeline
Rental adverts in Dublin
This morning.
Ben Haugh reports in the Times Ireland edition...
The RTB will today announce two new rent pressure zones in Carlow and Macroom in Cork. Rents in Carlow increased by 12.6 per cent over the past year to €879, while they rose by 19.1 per cent in Macroom to €915.
The average rent in the capital was €1,713 at the end of June, compared with €1,599 in the same period last year.
The cost of renting in Cork city increased by 4.2 per cent to €1,177; in Galway city by 5.7 per cent to €1,117; in Limerick city by 10.2 per cent to €973; and in Waterford city by 13.9 per cent to €843.
Pressure zones fail to put cap on soaring rents (Ben Haugh, Times Ireland edition)
Public Services Card; Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee this morning; the Public Accounts Committee
This morning.
The Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon is appearing before the Public Accounts Committee.
It follows Ms Dixon finding that there is no legal basis for the State demanding the use of the Public Services Card in order to access a range of public services beyond social welfare payments.
Ms Dixon ordered that Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty’s department stop issuing new PSCs, with immediate effect, to people seeking a service outside of her department, and that it delete the supporting documentation – such as utility bills, etc – that the department has retained on the 3.2million card holders.
Ms Doherty is categorical her department will not be complying with these orders and has said the State will challenge the findings of Ms Dixon – in court, if needs be.
Meanwhile…
Irish Times journalist Jack Horgan-Jones has obtained documents [above], under the Freedom of Information Act, outlining radio ads that the Road Safety Authority planned to use but scrapped.
It’s understood they were scrapped after Minister for Transport Shane Ross announced in May 2018 that applicants for the driver theory test would not have to produce a PSC to satisfy identification requirements, reportedly after the Attorney General told the minister such a mandatory requirement was not legal.
This is despite Minister Doherty saying over the past few weeks that the State will challenge the findings of the DPC based on “incredibly strong” advice from the Attorney General.
Asked about Mr Ross’s announcement, Ms Doherty told the Dáil last night:
“I cannot say why the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, said what he said other than to say I am not responsible for the delivery of policy…
“I cannot say why he said what he said. I am only responsible for delivery of policy in my Department. I do not know if he got legal advice and to answer the same question, I do not know if the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade got legal advice on its policy formation.”
Watch the Public Accounts Committee proceedings live here
The Stardust, Artane, Dublin on the morning of February 14, 1981
This evening.
Attorney General Séamus Woulfe has today confirmed that a fresh inquest will be held into the 48 deaths at the Stardust fire, Artane on 14 February 1981.
The families through their lawyers Phoenix Law made a formal application for a fresh investigation.
Darragh Mackin, of Phoenix Law, said:
“The Attorney General has today confirmed that our clients’ application for a fresh inquest has been successful.
The families of the Stardust victims will hold a press conference tomorrow morning at 11am in Buswells Hotel.
The families are delighted with today’s decision, however would ask that their privacy is respected tonight.”
More as we get it.
Previously: ‘No Such Request Has been Recieved‘
From top: US President Donald Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky; Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter
This afternoon.
The United States Department of Justice has released the transcript of the conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that was reported to include talks of investigating Joe Biden.
The release comes the day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi authorised an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Biden.
US President Trump: Congratulations on a great victory. We all watched from the United States and you did a terrific job. The way you came from behind, somebody who wasn’t given much of a chance, and you ended up winning easily. It’s a fantastic achievement. Congratulations.
President Zelenskyy: You are absolutely right Mr. President. We did win big and we worked hard for this. We worked a lot but I would like to confess to you that I had an opportunity to learn from you. We used quite a few of your skills and knowledge and were able to use it as an example for our elections and yes it is true that these were unique elections. We were in a unique situation that we were able to achieve a unique success. I’m able to tell you the following; the first time, you called me to congratulate me when I won my presidential election, and the second time you are now calling me when my party won the parliamentary election. I think I should run more often so you can call me more often and we can talk over the phone more often.
Trump: [laughter] That’s a very good idea. I think your country is very happy about that.
President Zelenskyy: Well yes, to tell you the truth, we are trying to work hard because we wanted to drain the swamp here in our country. We brought in many many new people. Not the old politicians, not the typical politicians, because we want to have a new format and a new type of government. You are a great teacher for us and in that.
Trump: Well it’s very nice of you to say that. I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it’s something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she doesn’t do anything. A lot of the European countries are the same way so I think it’s something you want to look at but the United States has be very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy: Yes you are absolutely right. Not only 100%, but actually 1000% and I can tell you the following; I did talk to Angela Merkel and I did meet with her. I also met and talked with Macron and I told them that they are not doing quite as much as they need to be doing on the issues with the sanctions. They are not enforcing the sanctions. They are not working as much as they should work for Ukraine. It turns out that even though logically, the European Union should be our biggest partner but technically the United States is a much bigger partner than the European Union and I’m very grateful to you for that because the United States is doing quite a lot for Ukraine. Much more than the European Union especially when we are talking about sanctions against the Russian Federation. I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.
Trump: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike… I guess you have one of your wealthy people… The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.
President Zelenskyy: Yes it is very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a President, it is very important and we are open for any future cooperation. We are ready to open a new page on cooperation in relations between the United States and Ukraine. For that purpose, I just recalled our ambassador from United States and he will be replaced by a very competent and very experienced ambassador who will work hard on making sure that our two nations are getting closer. I would also like and hope to see him having your trust and your confidence and have personal relations with you so we can cooperate even more so. I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine. I just wanted to assure you once again that you have nobody but friends around us. I will make sure that I surround myself with the best and most experienced people. I also wanted to tell you that we are friends. We are great friends and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. That I can assure you.
Trump: “Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that. The other thing, There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that she stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me.
President Zelenskyy: I wanted to tell you about the prosecutor. First of all I understand and I’m knowledgeable about the situation. Since we have won the absolute majority in our Parliament, the next prosecutor general will be 100% my person, my candidate, who will be approved by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. The issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue of making sure to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and will work on the investigation of the case. On top of that, I would kindly ask you if you have any additional information that you can provide to us, it would be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States from Ukraine as far I as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough.”
Trump: Well, she’s going to go through some things. I will have Mr. Giuliani to give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is going to get better and better I predict. You have a lot of assets. It’s a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, their incredible people.
At Sean Walsh Memorial Park in Tallaght, Dublin; Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart; Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe; and Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
This afternoon.
In the Dáil.
The recent destruction of wetlands at Sean Walsh Memorial Park in Tallaght, Dublin, following de-silting works at the park by South Dublin County Council, the was raised by Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart and Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe with Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Ms Madigan confirmed to the two TDs that her department will be carrying out an investigation into the matter and vowed she “won’t leave a stone unturned” during that inquiry.
South Dublin County Council released a statement on the matter on Monday.
Ms Madigan’s confirmation of an inquiry follows Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin yesterday demanding in inquiry into the matter.
During his contribution, Mr Crowe said the wetlands was a “vibrant, multi-layered eco-system”.
He added:
“It came about by accident rather than design. There was a murder in the area, the guards needed to dredge the area…silt came out of the pond and it was put on grassland. And this, over a couple of years, the eco-system came about.”
He also said:
“It was described by one person, the vandalism, the environmental vandalism that actually happened, it was like a punch in the gut and it not only demotivates people, it demoralises people, not only those environmentalists, but also volunteers who help in the park, but also park staff.
“We got it wrong, clearly. It regenerated over the years, it was bursting with life, nude spats and even the critically endangered European eel.
“…you say, minister, that there’s going to be an inquiry, I think that’s something positive. I think it was an issue of miscommunication rather than a malicious decision. Nevertheless, the environmental destruction is unacceptable, it can’t happen again in any part of the country and serious lessons need to be learned from this disaster.”
Mr Crowe went on to ask Minister Madigan to outline how long the investigation will take place, when it will finish and if her department will liaise with local representatives.
During her response, Ms Madigan said:
“My department…is investigating this matter and we have been in touch with the Heritage Officer of South Dublin County Council, indeed the Chief Executive and the director of Environmental Services also. And we have requested a report on the matter from them.
“Officers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, of my department, are arranging a visit this coming week, together with the Heritage Officer and following on from that site visit, I expect to receive a report from them, for review.
“I would caution, however, that it shouldn’t be prejudicial or premature in establishing facts until we see that report in detail and we will then take any further action as a result of those findings as we see fit.”
Mr Lahart told Ms Madigan:
“The question you must ask of the local authority is: how did communication breakdown to such an extent that one arm of the local authority didn’t know what the other arm of the local authority has done, and has essentially vandalised a natural habitat.
“That’s the first point, the second point is this: Does a local authority require a licence from the EPA to dump silt and soil in particular spots. That’s the second point.
“The third point I want to make is this. This happens widely in Ireland. I have queries, as well from constituents at the moment, in relation to the provision of play spaces in Dodder Valley – that their concerns in relation to the biodiversity impact of one of those play spaces wasn’t taken seriously by the local authority in terms of the part 8 submission.
“And we look at the ESB. The apparent jewel in the crown of semi-state bodies has not responded publicly in any meaningful way to their pollution of the River Dodder. A documentary on Prime Time covered that.
“So your response is outlining what your responsibility is as minister, but you have serious questions to ask the local authority as to how this came to happen.”
During her response, Ms Madigan said:
“I will give you the full report when I have it to hand.”
Previously: All A Blur
“Like The Surface Of The Moon”
Meanwhile…
Petition launched to save woodland in Dublin | https://t.co/zFASNEklY9 @EamonRyan @EcoWatch @broadsheet_ie #Talaght @Irishwildlife https://t.co/htZDmVnAZd
— Gemma (@wickedfairysad) September 25, 2019
