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Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is looking at a plan to turn a surplus site into a native woodland.

The innovative proposal would see the 36-acre plot donated to Nature Trust for planting with the type of trees and forest that once covered Ireland.

It would then be managed “into perpetuity” by the trust with walking trails developed for use by the public.

The site was part of a 65.5-acre parcel of land that was bought by TII for a national road scheme in County Cork.

Once the €280 million bypass between Macroom and Ballyvourney was complete, the public body no longer had any use for the remainder of the site.

A TII presentation said options open to them included the sale of the land or alternative use, for example, as a solar farm.

However, a new plan was put forward whereby TII and Cork County Council would donate the site to Nature Trust.

The presentation said the site would be developed both as a native woodland and to highlight the historical significance of the area.

According to the records, the site was part of the Coolnacaheragh Battlefield and was the location of the Coolnacaheragh ambush in February 1921.

The TII slideshow said the new forest would be “rich in biodiversity” and help them with their carbon footprint.

“It is estimated that this native woodland will sequester and store an average of seventy-five tonnes of carbon dioxide every year,” said one slide.

TII said “natural carbon woodland credits” would apply and that Nature Trust would provide periodic updates on “biodiversity uplift” and “community engagement.”

The slideshow said the plan would help protect soil and water in the locality and create a new public amenity for the area.

The Department of Foreign Affairs got hit with a hike of more than €46,000 on the annual rent they pay for the Irish Ambassador’s residence in London.

The department said it had little choice but to agree to the sharp increase even though it brought the cost of the property close to €10,000 per week.

The new lease of €508,925 per annum – a rise of 10 percent – was signed off on because no better options were available, according to records released under FOI.

An internal submission said that the Irish Ambassador to the U.K. had been living in the property in leafy Chester Square since September 2019.

In late 2022, the Department of Foreign Affairs said they were interested in extending the lease.

While the landlord was happy for them to stay on, they said they wanted a “substantial increase” in rent of over 11 percent.

Department officials tried, “actively but unsuccessfully,” to negotiate a much smaller increase in rent.

The submission said: “After several months, the landlord indicated that they would not accept any offer below £8,400 (€9,787) per week.”

At the same time, the department had asked a property adviser to see if there were any other suitable properties available in London.

A report said the type of residence needed for the Ambassador was only likely to come on the market half a dozen times each year.

The submission said: “The market had hardened in the wake of Covid, with landlords less inclined to offer inducements or rent reductions to attract tenants.”

The property advisers examined eight properties in the area that had been let over a two-year period.

They said only three of them had been leased for less than £7,000 (€8,156) per week and the majority ranged from £8,000 to £12,000.

Eleven alternative properties were put forward, a number of which were “slightly” cheaper than the existing residence.

The submission said: “It is very challenging to find an equally suitable property at a lower rent based on market evidence.

“A move would probably necessitate additional fire safety and security improvements, at a cost to the exchequer, in addition to the purchase or rental of furniture.”

It said the best-case scenario was that such a move would be “cost neutral” and at worst “less suitable and more expensive.”

The Land Development Agency (LDA) has appealed to the High Court to block release of their risk register to Right to Know.

Last month, the Information Commissioner (OIC) annulled a decision of the LDA to withhold a large portion of the document, primarily on commercial sensitivity grounds.

In a decision, the OIC said they could not see how release of the information would “prejudice the conduct or the outcome of … negotiations.”

It said it was very difficult to see how harm would be caused and ordered the LDA to disclose the document in full.

Risk registers have been the subject of many decisions by the OIC in the past, almost always in favour of the requester.

On 19 August, the LDA appealed the decision to the High Court saying they were a commercial semi-state body set up to take urgent measures to deal with systemic housing shortages in Ireland.

They said they had to compete against and contract with private participants in property development, construction, and rental markets.

The LDA argued the risk register contained trade secrets and release could result in a material financial loss to them.

It is the third time in the space of three years a public body has taken a Right to Know decision to the High Court.

The two previous cases involved the IDA and in both, the records were eventually released.

Both also had a significant cost to the taxpayer with the case involving an IDA client survey costing at least €78,000.

A senior Department of Justice official warned backlogs in dealing with asylum applications were quickly reaching “unmanageable levels.”

In high-level talks, officials said the huge rise in people claiming international protection was becoming more and more difficult to process.

It said long backlogs were leading to higher costs and longer “periods for which there are entitlements to accommodation and other supports.”

The discussions led to a major increase in funding and staffing as officials were told the system was on the verge of buckling.

An email between the Department of Justice and the Department of Public Expenditure last summer said: “Without further investment, backlogs will reach unmanageable levels in less than a year.

“In practice, we are still working to recruit staff and appoint panel members … but as the year progresses, we will need to move beyond these if we are to meet the scale of the processing challenge.”

The Department of Justice had refused to release the documents on extra money and staff to deal with international protection applications.

However, following an appeal under FOI laws, they have now released some records which detail how the system had seen a 385 percent increase in expected applications between 2022 and 2023.

A business case said the number of claims being made was “outrunning processing capacity” leading to enormous caseloads.

It said investment was now required at “every stage” of the international protection process.

The business case said: “Most applicants are entitled to reception conditions, including accommodation, access to healthcare and education, and a contribution to weekly expenses while their cases are being processed.”

Enterprise Ireland wanted to raise the salary for their chief executive position by over €70,000 but were warned there was little chance of it being approved.

The agency told the Department of Enterprise late last year they were looking to recruit their new boss with a pay package worth €300,000 per year.

In a sanction request last December, they said they were looking to “attract the highest possible calibre of candidates” including CEOs from the private sector.

It said the €300,000 package was not at private sector standards but “would send a strong signal to the candidate market for this role.”

The Department of Enterprise responded to say that a robust business case would be needed for raising the salary up from the agreed level of around €230,000 per year.

Two weeks later, Enterprise Ireland submitted a revised document, this time saying they were looking for a salary of €270,000.

The sanction request said: “The CEO role is critical to the growth of the Irish economy while ensuring the effective leadership, direction, governance, client service delivery and internal transformation of the agency.”

The Department of Enterprise cautioned however there was almost no chance of getting an enhanced pay package approved by the Department of Public Expenditure.

A senior official said it was a “substantial increase in pay” that would mean the CEO was paid more than a department secretary general or the boss of the IDA.

An email in January said: “We envision [the Department of Public Expenditure] will have significant concerns with the proposed salary, particularly, as it could have wider public sector pay implications whereby other non-commercial semi state agencies could cite Enterprise Ireland when making future business cases.

“While the rationale outlined in the business case is well founded and has merit, [we think the department] will be reluctant to sanction the post given the high base salary requested.”

A crucial emergency beacon fell from an Air Corps helicopter during an emergency medical mission, sparking a four-day search before it was eventually discovered by a farm worker in a field.

The automatic deployable emergency locator is meant to be used in the event of a crash to help locate a missing aircraft.

However, during the flight last November, technicians discovered the device had vanished following checks at Custume Barracks in Athlone.

While the AW-139 chopper was airborne, a ‘ping’ from the emergency locator was received by the Irish Coast Guard.

They contacted the Air Corps with a location for the beacon, which they said could be accurate up to six metres but was often less precise in practice.

The helicopter was then cleared to return to headquarters at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel in Dublin.

A new chopper was tasked with the medical emergency while a full inspection of the affected aircraft took place.

A safety investigation report said: “There was no damage to the aircraft except for the ELT [emergency locator transmitter] loss.”

A search party involving seven personnel went to a location in the Newcastle area of Dublin to recover the beacon.

Over a four-day period, aerial searches for the emergency locator took place while a local farmer was contacted to see if it had fallen on his land.

The Air Corps even used drones to fly over ploughed fields with no success.

As night fell on 3 December, the search was called off although efforts to pinpoint the beacon’s location continued at Casement Aerodrome.

The accident report said such devices were “ordinarily painted bright red or orange” to make them easy to find but that this one was painted black “in keeping with the tactical livery of service aircraft.”

The locator was eventually found by accident by a local farmhand the same evening.

A pay hike of over €23,000 was approved for the new chief executive of the Housing Agency after negotiations between two government departments.

The post was meant to be filled with a starting package of €161,593-a-year, the first point on the Assistant Secretary salary scale of the civil service.

However, the Housing Agency said their preferred candidate had been paid a higher salary than that in his previous role in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

They argued that their new CEO Martin Whelan should start at €184,852-per-year, the fourth and final point on the agreed salary scale.

The Department of Public Expenditure said that based on his “substantial knowledge and experience” and his previous salary, they would have “no objection” to the higher package.

Internal records detail how the Housing Agency was left without a CEO when their previous boss Bob Jordan resigned in September last year after a three month notice period.

An email from the Department of Housing said: “Given the short lead in time to Mr. Jordan’s resignation there is an urgency in commencing the recruitment process.

“It may be a case that an interim CEO will be required for a number of months as it is imperative that the work and consequential outputs of the Housing Agency is uninterrupted while the substantive CEO process is ongoing.”

In response, the Department of Public Expenditure said they had no objection to a person being appointed on an acting basis if the need arose.

They said the full-time appointment should be made on the Assistant Secretary level which begins at €161,593 per year and with no perks permitted under government policy.

In November, the Housing Agency said they had found a candidate for the role but submitted a business case to seek a higher starting pay rate.

It said that while Martin Whelan was “enthusiastic about the role,” he had “requested a review of the remuneration package.”

The business case said: “[His] current salary at the NTMA is [redacted] which contrasts with the €163,209 at the first point of the Assistant Secretary grade.

“To address this and to reflect the level of experience and expertise Mr Whelan will bring, the Agency proposes appointing him at the top of the Assistant Secretary scale, €186,701.”

It said a committee led by the chair of the Housing Agency fully supported it and believed it was a “prudent and necessary investment.”

As part of the business case, the Department of Housing said they also agreed that Mr Whelan should start on the higher rate of pay.

There were further discussions with details sought on how many people had applied and how many were considered suitable for the role.

In mid-November, the Department of Housing said they were hoping for a final decision as the matter was now “very urgent and impacting the business of the [Housing] Agency.”

On November 29, an email from the Department of Public Expenditure said they had closely considered the case and the candidate’s previous experience.

“Taking into account his current salary in the NTMA, [we] would have no objection to the Housing Agency negotiating a salary up to the fourth point of the Assistant Secretary scale,” said the message.

Tusla has warned it will blow its budget by nearly €68 million this year as it struggles to deal with huge demand for its services.

The child and family agency warned in an update in May that it had already overspent by €8.9 million but this figure was likely to multiply by the end of the year.

Tusla said its expected overspend for 2025 was €67.8 million, which included €7.6 million for kids in the international protection process and refugees from Ukraine.

In a monthly briefing, the agency said demand for its service was growing especially for residential care, fostering, legal bills, and separated children seeking asylum.

It said they were trying to cut costs by expanding residential provision to replace special emergency arrangements that were a “significant cost driver.”

Tusla said some savings had been made in this area in 2024 through a “strict pricing arrangement” and that this would continue this year.

However, the agency warned that costs remained “unpredictable” due to the inflated cost of placements.

The briefing explained: “As the majority of Tusla’s expenditure is on demand-led arrangements, it is not possible to reduce expenditure materially to meet the budget allocated, without adversely impacting on services for vulnerable children and families.”

It said there was likely to be an overspend of €38.8 million on placements for special care, fostering, and private residential arrangements.

Tusla also detailed the high cost of “out-of-state placements” which involves a small number of children brought to the U.K. when services are not available in Ireland.

The briefing said: “If the agency cannot place children into special care in the existing facilities in 2025, this has the potential to impact on this year’s overspend.”

It said costs for staff travel were also likely to be up by as much as €2.2 million despite on expenses being introduced.

Tusla also detailed a sharp rise in the number of placements for separated children who had applied for international protection in Ireland.

The overspend here was predicted to be around €6.1 million to offer 343 residential placements for vulnerable asylum seekers without parents.

A local authority paid €613,000 for land to secure public access to an idyllic beach saying it would be more expensive to go to court to guarantee a right of way.

In internal discussions, Wicklow County Council said the purchase price was likely to be less than a High Court challenge, which would have no guarantee of success.

The land at Magheramore Beach was owned by Paddy McKillen Jnr’s Oakmount who outbid the local authority for it in 2021 when they paid €700,000.

Mr McKillen Jnr had hoped to develop a €40 million surf school, accommodation, and restaurant there, but the proposal was rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

The 21-acre clifftop site went to auction again this year with a successful bid made by a Chinese investor based in Ireland.

The investor later contacted Wicklow County Council offering them an opportunity to buy the site for €613,000 and “step into the shoes” of the purchaser.

An internal council memo said it would secure permanent public access to the beach and that private ownership could lead to it being blocked off.

It said: “There is a registered private right of way the full length of the access lane to the beach; however, there is no public right of way currently registered for the lane.

“Therefore, a High Court case would have to be taken to secure public access. The legal costs for such a case would come to at least €600,000 with no guarantee that it would be successful.”

The Information Commissioner was forced to use powers under FOI legislation to ensure the Secretary General of the Department of Children and Equality released records.

The move followed a request by Right to Know for copies of a pre-budget submission and other correspondence from the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS).

When the request was made initially, the Department of Children and Equality did not respond.

When we sought internal review, the department did not respond.

Then, when the Information Commissioner (OIC) asked them to issue an “effective position” they still did not bother to respond.

At that stage, the OIC issued a notice under Section 45 of the FOI Act compelling the department to provide the information involved.

The decision said: “Non-responses and delays of the nature experienced in this case serve to undermine the entire FOI process and are unacceptable.

“I should add, however, that the Information Commissioner has since met with the Secretary General and commitments were given to put in place measures to ensure that the Department can, in the future, comply with its obligations under the FOI Act.”

The decision will result in the release of much of the information that was originally sought with some redactions on grounds including commercial sensitivity and security concerns.

P.S. it is now over a year and a half since the request was first made.