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An audit of an OPW-run scheme to support the arts found €2 million left idle in an account, projects where it was unclear whether they had started or finished, and financial transfers made for more than the artwork cost.

The internal audit said there were no proper documented procedures for the scheme while funding intended for one project ended up being spent on another.

The review of the Percent for Art scheme, a government initiative that sees 1 percent of the cost of all major state projects allocated to new art or acquisition of art, took place in May 2023.

The internal auditors said they could provide only “limited” assurance on its operation with a dozen adverse findings made about how it worked.

A copy of their report said: “Three of the ten [Percent for Art] balances were marked ‘project not yet commenced’, [yet] these projects were marked completed by the Estate Management Unit.

“This resulted in capital projects being completed but without artwork in the buildings.”

It said four were marked as “new art” even though the items had been bought and that the artwork cost less than the amount of money transferred for their purchase.

The internal audit said there were no final accounts on file for any of the projects reviewed and that a vacancy for a coordinator position had been left empty for three years.

The audit also found that more than €2 million had ended up in a suspense account with some of the money lying unspent for at least two years.

The report said: “There is a risk that Percent for Art funds are being held for too long.”

It explained how around €665,000 was left sitting in the account for two years while around €480,000 had been idle for between three and five years.

A review also took place of all infrastructure projects worth more than €500,000 where the art scheme would apply.

It found that there were 32 projects that were not in the OPW files which auditors said could lead to an “inconsistent application” of the guidelines.

The OPW told the internal auditors that the scheme had been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made work challenging from 2020 to 2022.

They said: “Projects generally could not be progressed during this time due to Covid restrictions that affected construction works and access to sites for art assessment purposes.

“Art galleries were also closed for much of this time; this restricted purchasing opportunities for artworks.”

Asked about the report, a spokeswoman for the OPW said they took a strategic approach to managing the scheme with funding ring-fenced to “ensure the most cost-effective use of resources.”

She said: “In some cases, there are site-specific art commissions and in others, budgets are pooled to facilitate collaboration with stakeholders, or to provide buildings with artworks from the State Art Collection.”

Twenty-six landlords, companies, or investment firms paid local property tax (LPT) for ownership of more than 500 houses or apartments last year.

Revenue data show a small number of property owners paying upwards of €300,000 each for vast portfolios of real estate.

The figures show that just twenty owners paid €6.5 million in LPT in 2024 to cover liabilities for 19,900 separate properties.

On average, the top twenty paid around €325,000 each for portfolios with 995 houses or apartments on their books.

Overall, in 2024, nearly 1.5 million owners paid LPT for 1.88 million properties right across the country.

The overwhelming majority of people – 1,314,984 owners – had just a single property, usually their main family home.

There were 167,676 individuals or entities that had between two and five properties and 6,189 that owned between six and nine houses or apartments.

A total of 2,610 people paid LPT for between 10 and 24 properties while 440 paid tax on between 25 and 49 homes.

The Revenue figures also showed that 186 individuals, companies, or entities had property tax liability for 50 to 99 houses or apartments.

A further 80 paid LPT for ownership of between 100 and 199 properties while 33 held between 200 and 299.

There were eleven property owners who had between 300 and 399 houses or apartments on their books, according to the data.

A small number, less than ten, owned between 400 and 499 properties but Revenue would not disclose the figure saying it could identify individuals given the small number involved.

Twenty-six individuals, companies and entities had to pay LPT on over 500 properties each.

A county council asked the authority responsible for running Dublin Airport to stop “lampooning” them in public and “lashing out” in a bitter dispute over a controversial passenger cap.

In private discussions, Fingal County Council said they had been asked many times to speak publicly about the airport cap but had instead always “kept [their] counsel.”

However, they said it was time for the daa to “dial down” rhetoric on the subject and work together for a solution.

An email from Fingal’s head of communications said: “It may be the daa’s objective to have Dublin Airport classified as strategic national infrastructure, but that’s not how it is right now and publicly lampooning the council and its staff to support the argument doesn’t help to foster good relations.”

His message, which was sent in mid-January, said that with a new government, the time could be right for all involved to start working together for a solution to the passenger cap controversy.

The email continued: “It would be much better if the public image is one of stakeholders working in partnership for the good of the country and its people rather than being at loggerheads and lashing each other in the media.”

Relations between Fingal County Council and the daa have soured over the 32 million passenger cap that is currently in place at the airport.

The cap was put in place as part of planning permission for a second terminal but management at Dublin Airport and major airlines want it increased dramatically.

Late last year, the daa submitted a planning application to have the cap raised to 36 million but Fingal County Council deemed it invalid in January.

Records released under FOI by the local authority show how communications staff at Dublin Airport only became aware the application was rejected as the council made their decision public.

An email from the daa said: “It would have been helpful and appreciated by the comms [communications] team to receive the statement ahead of or at least at the same time as the media as we received a lot of queries shortly afterwards.”

The request from Fingal County Council for the cap to be dealt with in a more “proper business-like manner” has not eased frostiness between the two.

In an email in late January, a senior council official said it was “regrettable” that the daa had not looked for a pre-planning meeting before submitting their invalid application.

A message from a daa staff member on January 23 said the “critical nature of this application speaks for itself” and said it was a shame there was no fast-track process for applications from Dublin Airport.

The message said: “While the re-submission should not be taken as an acceptance of [the council’s] views, daa’s main purpose is to progress this application as quickly as possible to lift this passenger cap which is no longer appropriate or necessary.”

In response, Fingal County Council’s director of services Matthew McAleese wrote of being “bemused” by an offer from the daa to make themselves available for a meeting.

He wrote: “You speak of the critical nature of this application in terms of the key needs of the economy, of the travelling public and of the airlines, yet the daa chose not to have pre-planning with [us] prior to lodging in December.

“You speak of the lack of a fast-track planning process. However, by not proceeding with pre-planning you are failing to avail of any opportunity to identify issues and offer advice in advance of the application being lodged.”

A former key executive from Ryanair told the HSE that the travel and expenses bill for staff was too expensive at €1,050 per staff member and should be drastically reduced.

Michael Cawley, who was appointed to the health service board last year, said a €91.3 million annual travel and subsistence bill was “too high” and that “much more control needed to be exercised by management.”

Mr Cawley, a former deputy CEO of Ryanair, said the use of online conference platforms like Team and Zoom could be used to reduce the spend significantly.

In an email to fellow board members and HSE senior management, he wrote: “Preauthorisation of all travel by [management] together with a prohibition on foreign travel should yield considerable savings.”

The discussions took place earlier this year as the health service looked to cut costs with several areas of spending targeted for savings.

One of them was travel and subsistence with one senior official saying savings could be made by “applying existing rules rather than new rules or limits.”

Maurice Dillon, the National Lead for Palliative Care, wrote: “My sense is that they may not be applied consistently across disciplines, regions and line managers.

“For instance, if [an] employee uses their own vehicle where public transport could have been used, the amount of mileage should not exceed the cost of public transport.”

Another member of the HSE’s senior management team Patrick Lynch said the rule around “public transport before cars” needed to be reinforced.

Mr Lynch, National Director for Planning and Performance, also recommended a reduction in the use of taxis or hotel venues for meetings unless they had prior authorisation.

He said there could be a reduction in foreign travel for conferences, and that a new process might be needed for “exceptional approvals.”

Housing costs, the planning process, and the price of gas were the biggest downsides to doing business in Ireland according to the latest survey of multinationals by the IDA.

The 2024 client survey scored twenty different factors out of ten on Ireland’s competitiveness with the corporate tax regime again rating highest at 7.44.

However, housing for staff continues to be a major problem for companies doing business in Ireland, with satisfaction falling since the last survey in 2022.

Housing costs and availability both scored at 2.74 out of ten followed by the cost of gas supplies at 2.91.

Ireland’s planning process – which many companies consider slow and fraught with legal risk – scored at just 3.26 out of ten in the survey.

Other factors that had a ranking of below five out of ten were apprenticeships, power supply costs, and renewable power options.

On the plus side, Ireland’s famously generous corporate tax regime and the third level education system both scored well above seven, at 7.44 and 7.38, respectively.

Companies also listed broadband availability, labour force flexibility and air services availability as strong positives of doing business here.

An overview of the survey said: “The ranking of operational factors remains largely consistent to 2022. Satisfaction remains lowest for both housing costs and availability.

“There have been significant improvements in the evaluation of the availability and cost of broadband.”

Overall, companies were positive about Ireland with 54 percent saying growth prospects were “excellent” or “very good”.

The document was released by the IDA without issue under Freedom of Information laws for the first time.

The IDA had previously gone to the High Court to block release of a previous similar client survey

A confidential Revenue paper said a massive loophole in pensions law meant some people could wipe out all of their tax liability by transferring huge sums into a retirement saving fund.

The paper said the link between salary and pension had been completely “broken” and the system left open for large scale abuse by the wealthy.

The internal report, prepared by a Revenue official, said “a number of tax loopholes” had inadvertently been introduced because of the 2022 Finance Act.

It said there had always been room for individuals to increase personal wealth through clever use of pension schemes, but this had been super-charged by the loophole.

The paper said it allowed for “funding at an unlimited level” for family members or spouses artificially employed on low salaries and short contracts.

It said: “In effect, some self-employed professionals could wipe out their own tax liability on their professional income by a sufficiently large tax deductible PRSA [pension] contribution for their employed spouse.”

The Revenue report said the original plan had been to bring equality to different pension schemes and to encourage PRSA pension schemes that were easy to administer.

It said: “In summary, PRSAs were seen as good for the consumer, better regulated; good for Revenue – fewer schemes to approve and resources could be freed up and moved to compliance; good for the Pensions Authority – more resources moved to regulatory activities.”

However, the changes led to the abolition of benefit in kind charges on pension contributions and left them “without limit” and no link to salary or service.

The paper added: “[The legislation] severed this link and by doing so created a number of tax avoidance loopholes.”

It raised the prospect of how it could be abused through employment of family members, spouses, “if even for a short period.”

“For example, a family member put on the payroll on €10,000 per annum for a limited period (which may well lead to little or no taxation liability) could have a pension funded by a BIK free tax deductible PRSA contribution of say, €1m or even €2m,” the research said.

The research also said payments into pension pots could then be used over a period of several years to reduce tax liabilities.

It said: “A company could write [off] the entire pension contribution of €2 million against profits in the year the payment is made and carry forward the business losses for set off against profits in subsequent years.”

It said there was no requirement for any link between the pension contribution and the salary being paid to a person.

In some cases, that meant directors with other income sources, could pay themselves the minimum wage and funnel up to €2 million into a pension.

“Revenue is missing out on all the tax that would have been paid on the salaries paid over the years of service needed to accumulate these maximum pension funds,” the paper added.

It also explained how the link between length of service and accumulation of a retirement pot had been completely broken as well.

The paper said a spouse or family member could work for a short period of time – perhaps even a month – and accumulate a sizable pension.

It said: “In fact, an employer could employ a spouse for a month [or] year and fund for a maximum pension fund of €2 million and the spouse could leave the business after a month [or] year or whatever time period suited them.”

The report was prepared in the summer of 2023 and before a review of tax records showed some businesses were transferring over €500,000 per year into funds for the owner, their spouse, their children, or even their parents.

The Revenue Commissioners had withheld the report from release and only made it public following an appeal to the Information Commissioner under FOI laws.

Asked about the paper, a spokeswoman said that they had actively monitored the changes, and their analysis of trends and data identified a number of cases that gave rise to concerns.

They said these were shared with the Department of Finance and amendments in the Finance Act 2024 had addressed the problem.

A knife in a plastic bag was found stashed inside a courtroom while another person tried to smuggle a replica handgun into the criminal courts.

In another bizarre case, a member of the public tried to bring a “murder weapon” through a security screen saying they planned to hand it to gardaí as evidence.

A log of Courts Service incidents and accidents for 2024 also disclosed how another person tried to bring a “large wrench tool” through a scanner.

When they were told it would have to be left at the entrance gate, the person became “verbally abusive” and gardaí had to be called.

A note of the incident said: “Upon receiving the returned item, the [person] threatened to assault [security] operative with [it].

“A garda sergeant who was leaving the building overheard the threat and removed the [person] from the building.”

In April, “a small knife in a rigid plastic bag” was discovered in the Criminal Courts of Justice with an investigation taking place.

It was later said it could not be determined with any certainty who had brought the weapon into the building.

The log of incidents detailed the discovery last March of an Airsoft pistol inside a backpack from a person trying to get into the courts.

The replica weapon was confiscated with gardaí called and the owner later told the item would not be returned to them.

In another case last summer, the legal representative of a high security prisoner at Portlaoise was attacked by their own client.

The two of them were discussing the case when the lawyer “stumbled out of the holding cell having been physically assaulted.”

This is an affidavit of Keith O’Brien in the case of People Centre Ireland/Rippling vs Keith O’Brien in the Irish High Court.

The case has been making headlines globally.

A new TD accused the Oireachtas of a “disregard for the dignity” of his position in a furious email over the state of an office offered to him in Leinster House.

Independent Ireland’s Ken O’Flynn promised to pursue “further steps as necessary” if his request for better accommodation was not facilitated.

In a lengthy message to Leinster House management, Mr O’Flynn wrote of being shown an office in an “unacceptable state” with paint cans in one corner, no chairs available and unwanted items left behind by the previous occupants.

He wrote: “The office had clearly not been maintained with the level of care that is expected in an environment representing elected officials.”

Mr O’Flynn said the room he was shown displayed a “lack of professionalism” and needed to be adequately furnished and promptly cleaned “to meet the standards befitting an elected member of this esteemed House.”

The email was one of dozens of requests from TDs and Senators seeking new offices, furniture, and repairs since the general election.

Among the issues raised were disappearing furniture, the need for a recliner in a room, bad smells, soiled carpets, and a broken chaise longue.

On his dealings with the Oireachtas, Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn said the lack of preparation for the incoming Dáil had been “astonishing”.

He said: “Would you be satisfied if left six weeks without a computer, and nine weeks without the allocation of an office?

“It shouldn’t have to be such a challenge. Whether you’re a public servant or working in private industry in facilities management – preparation is your job.”

The Department of Justice spent more than €1.8 million on deportation flights over a four-year period including at least €422,000 on business class flights for escort officers returning from operations.

The department said expenditure was sometimes necessary for executive seats when a deportation officer was immediately returning to Ireland from a long-haul flight without staying at the destination.

Records show that spending on deportation flights last year amounted to €1.09 million, of which around €262,000 covered business class travel.

For 2023, total expenditure on removal operations was roughly €463,000 with around a third of the total – or €161,000 – paid for business seats.

The rate of expenditure has been increasing as only €219,000 was spent in 2022 and €37,000 was paid for flights during 2021.

Deportation operations were heavily curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic with only a small number of removals, usually where serious criminality was involved.

Figures provided under FOI show that there were a total of 156 deportation orders carried out by air last year.

This included 66 people from Georgia, 19 from South Africa, 15 from Albania, 14 from Brazil, 7 from Algeria and 7 from Nigeria.