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The country’s best-known civil servant said a document that was leaked by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had never ceased to be classified and confidential.

The Secretary-General of the Department of Health Robert Watt told the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) that the document was not supposed to be shared until it was formally published.

Mr Watt was last summer sent a lengthy list of questions by SIPO and said it was his view that the “degree of sensitivity or need for confidentiality” over the document never changed.

He said it was his understanding that an agreement to keep the document secret “would have been made explicit” during the negotiation process.

Mr Watt said that the plan was always for the document to be published but only when it was completely finalised.

An email from him said: “It is our understanding that it was agreed by all three parties that confidentiality of the draft text was to be maintained pending its finalisation.”

In April 2019, Mr Varadkar sent a draft copy of the agreement between government and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) to Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, who was at the time the head of a rival GP group.

However, despite Mr Watt’s statement that the record never ceased to be confidential, SIPO again decided last December not to pursue a formal investigation into the former Taoiseach.

Correspondence between SIPO and the Departments of Health and the Taoiseach was originally withheld by the Standards Commission under FOI laws.

It was only released following an internal review and raises further questions over why the Standards Commission did not pursue the matter further.

In one question to the Department of Health, SIPO asked if the document was “declassified at any point?”

Mr Watt responded with a single word: “No.”

Asked if the high-level sensitivity of the document had ever changed, he replied: “No.”

Mr Watt said the reason for that was to maintain confidentiality so that it could undergo the necessary editorial control and finalisation to ensure only “accurate information” came into the public domain.

SIPO also asked if the contract had ever been requested by anybody else at the time from the Department of Health.

Mr Watt responded saying: “No records held by the department … indicate that any other individual or organisation sought the text.”

SIPO asked when the document had been provided to the former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

However, the Department of Health said they held no records on this and that their submissions system showed it was provided to the then Health Minister Simon Harris on April 17.

Text messages published by Village Magazine in 2020 show that the document was leaked by Mr Varadkar in mid-April of 2019.

Further records, including legal advice and other documents on why SIPO again decided last December not to pursue the matter, have all been withheld under FOI laws.

Asked about the documents that they did release, SIPO said they had no comment to make.

Five civil servants have retired with lump sum payments worth over €300,000 over the past three years.

The payments were made to officials with long service in the public sector to go along with an entitlement to a six-figure annual pension.

Details from the Department of the Public Expenditure show how one person last year received a lump sum of €358,490.

Their annual pension was calculated at €120,692, according to data released under Freedom of Information laws.

Another retiring civil servant got a golden handshake of €311,698 and is eligible for a per-year pension worth €114,340.

In 2023, two long-serving staff each received lump sums of €313,600. Both are entitled to an annual pension of €115,710, the department data showed.

There was also a single lump sum payment of €306,315 in 2022 which is payable alongside a yearly pension entitlement of €110,965.

In the period between 2020 and 2024, nine different people retired with per-annum pensions that were worth in excess of €100,000.

At least 89 former civil servants received lump sums worth between €200,000 and €300,000 during those five years.

The department figures detail just how significant a burden the pension bill for highly paid civil servants is proving for the taxpayer.

The top twenty lump sums for 2024 for example cost a combined €4.67 million.

Pensions for those twenty individuals will cost €1.5 million every year, although normal tax rates apply to these payments.

For lump sums, anything up to €200,000 is tax-free while anything between €200,000 and €500,000 is taxed at only the standard rate of twenty per cent according to Revenue rules.

An OPW report on a controversial €490,000 boundary wall project said the ESB had tried to charge them an extra €57,000 to divert an electrical cable that was already supposed to be fixed.

The summary report detailed how the original completion date for the project had gone from December 2022 until December 2024 and was dogged by delays and extra costs.

It was critical of the ESB saying the OPW had made payment of €54,000 in March 2023 for electrical works and understood that work on a live cable would start at once.

It did not begin until September though, which meant the actual reconstruction works on the unsafe wall at Lansdowne House in Dublin did not recommence until October.

However, it was quickly halted again with the report saying another section of live cable was discovered beneath the wall at the Workplace Relations Commission headquarters.

It said: “It should be noted that this remaining section of high voltage cable was outlined within the original … diversion application from October 2023 and should have been diverted in its entirety.”

The Office of Public Works said when contractors raised the new issue with the ESB, a further €57,000 was sought to rectify the problem.

The OPW refused to accept that fee and following negotiations decided they would hire an external contractor to carry out the job instead.

However, problems with the ESB continued according to the summary report, which was released under Freedom of Information laws.

A timeline from March 2024 said: “Further contact was made with ESB in relation to the completions of civils work to Lansdowne Park in an effort to reopen car parking spaces and remove the ongoing traffic management equipment requirement.”

By the end of May, these works still had not been completed and the OPW had to continue to pay Dublin City Council for occupying parking spaces on the road outside.

In June, the OPW were told the ESB would need to apply for a road permit and in July, they were told a new engineer was in charge.

The report said: “[The new ESB manager] advised an additional fee would be required to carry out these works and meeting on site to scope work would be needed.

“The contractor again reminded ESB of the ongoing delay and costs associated with the car parking restrictions and hiring of the traffic management equipment.”

Between August and November, further attempts were made to get the ESB to make good their part of the project “with no progress made.”

At the very end of November, the ESB finally returned to close over a draw pit and reinstate the road and footpaths.

A summary timeline from December said: “Traffic management equipment removed on Lansdowne Park with pathway and parking spaces made available for public use. The project is completed.”

In an outline of costs, the report said the original budget for the wall had been around €188,000 exclusive of VAT, and this part of it had actually come in slightly below estimate.

However, a further €54,000 was paid to the ESB for the diversion of the first part of the live electrical cable while Dublin City Council were paid €61,000 for loss of parking and paths.

Fixing the second part of the electrical cabling and the “subsequent delay” involved ended up with a further €95,491 on the bill.

That added another €211,000 to the overall cost (ex VAT), which when VAT was included brought the final overall bill to around €490,000.

Asked about the records, both the OPW and the ESB said they had no comment to make.

Donald Trump’s luxury Irish resort has reached a compromise deal with a county council over the erection of temporary fencing at a beach close to the hotel.

The U.S. President’s Doonbeg International Golf Links and Hotel had been at loggerheads with Clare County Council over temporary fencing they put in place at Doughmore Strand.

The council said that was “unauthorised” but has now agreed to a new plan for more limited chestnut fencing along with post-and-rope on the sand dunes.

In their latest application last year, Trump International Golf Links and Hotels said the temporary structure would be put up in two locations on the dunes.

It said: “These two areas of dune habitat are suffering erosion, exacerbated by human traffic.

“It is proposed to reduce accessibility to these areas by the temporary erection of chestnut fencing, generally from March [or] April to October annually.”

The application said the hotel had consulted with the National Parks and Wildlife Service on how best to carry out the work.

“It is important not to let to get the sand far enough up the fence that it is difficult to remove,” the application said.

President Trump’s resort said it would be checked regularly and moved if a large volume of sand was trapped and that the fencing would be held in place by stakes.

The application added that monitoring of vegetation would take place with planting of marram grass in certain areas to help stabilise the sand dunes.

“It is intended to erect minimal temporary signage at the fencing, along the lines of ‘dune restoration works’,” the document added.

An environmental screening assessment said it was a necessary conservation measure for the “shifting dunes” and would help preserve the area.

A letter from the National Parks and Wildlife Service said it could be done on a trial basis to see how successful it was.

In their assessment, Clare County Council said it was their opinion that the works were “exempted development” and could go ahead.

Their decision from last August said the fencing would be about four foot in height and no more than a couple of hundred metres in length.

It said the fencing would not be permanent and “would directly support the site-specific conservation objectives” of the important seaside landscape.

The decision said: “The public will still be able to access Doughmore Beach. The fencing is at two specific locations only and will not restrict recreational use by the public.”

In its conclusion, it said the new fencing carried “no risk of significant effects” and could help in restoration of the dunes.

The Department of the Taoiseach and NAMA have spent at least €14.4 million on a seven-year inquiry into a controversial land deal that was only finalised last week.

A breakdown of costs shows that the chair of the commission of investigation Susan Gilvarry received fees of around €500,000 in the period between 2023 and January of this year.

The inquiry began in 2017 and concluded that NAMA had got the best price for the €1.6 billion Project Eagle lands while critical of a “success fee” that formed part of the deal.

The Department of the Taoiseach has confirmed that it has so far spent €7.7 million on the inquiry, which included around €2.8 million costs over the past two years.

A detailed breakdown of the most recent expenditure showed €506,000 was paid to Susan Gilvarry in her role as sole member of the commission, which included a small amount of IT costs.

Another solicitor working on the inquiry Susan Connolly received fees of €443,510 while barrister Darren Lehane got payments of €454,729 over the two-year period.

Three other lawyers were paid between €100,000 and €200,000, according to the data released under Freedom of Information laws by the Department of the Taoiseach.

Another six received fees of between €13,800 and €95,000.

The database covers all payments that were made by the department between January 2023 and January 2025 but may also cover some work from prior to those dates.

A bill of around €142,000 was run up on IT costs which included software licences, infrastructure backup, file management, and the purchase of computers.

There were far more mundane costs as well including around €17,000 for the rental of photocopying machines and €1,000 for copying paper.

Four shredders cost €137 while €32,000 was paid to the Civil Service Credit Union for shared electricity costs for the inquiry premises at St Stephen’s Green.

There were stenography costs of around €2,000 and phone bills of around €5,800 paid to the telecom provider EIR.

Cleaning services – including a number of “deep cleans” of the offices – cost €16,000 and €10,500 was paid for specialised legal software.

Asked about the expenditure, the Department of the Taoiseach did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate breakdown of figures from NAMA shows expenditure of €6.78 million by them on the investigation, the vast majority of it paid to a single legal firm.

NAMA said fees of €6.72 million had been paid to McCann Fitzgerald with five-figure sums paid to two other legal practices.

Below is a data-dump of expenditure by the commission of inquiry from 1 January 2023 to late January of 2025.

Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) were warned not to get drawn into public debate over a ban on dog racing in New Zealand with advice that “once you are explaining, you are losing.”

In discussions with PR advisers, GRI had asked how they should respond to requests from RTÉ and others to talk about a decision made in New Zealand to ban greyhound racing from 2026 onwards.

New Zealand decided late last year to wind the sport down over a twenty-month period due to the “unacceptably high” rate of injury to dogs.

The management of Greyhound Racing Ireland sought advice on how they should handle the fallout and whether they should speak publicly on it.

An email from their PR company said: “We simply do not know enough about the myriads of issues that may have led to the ending of greyhound racing in New Zealand to comment on the matter.

“To engage in a conversation on the issue would result in GRI having to answer for New Zealand greyhound racing without being armed with the necessary information. Once you are explaining, you are losing in such situations.”

Instead, it was recommended that a more general prepared statement highlighting the importance of the industry, growing attendance figures, and commitment to animal welfare should be relied upon.

There were further requests for Greyhound Racing Ireland to speak on the New Zealand ban.

An email from the greyhound board’s chief executive Tim Lucey said: “I think we respond on the basis that we have no comment to make on the reported matter.”

Further text messages from Mr Lucey to a representative of the Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation asked if perhaps a breeder could speak publicly to put forward their side.

A message to Mr Lucey said: “Appears to be open season at the moment. [UK breeder representative] on this morning Radio 5 Live U.K. discussing the New Zealand decision. IMO, I thought he came across very well.”

Mr Lucey responded saying: “That was a pretty light interview. Not sure we’d get the same here.”

Asked about the internal discussions and the reference to a ‘light interview’, Tim Lucey said: “The comment does not relate to or express any belief regarding fairness or otherwise of media coverage.

“It simply expresses a view that the interview referred to appeared to be light without any nature of debate therein.”

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was told a discussion on pay caps and the “super-tax” on bonuses at AIB is likely to rear its head as the state’s share in the bank approaches zero.

In a submission on the latest sale of the government stake in the bank, officials said there was no legal requirement to change the compensation cap as long as the state remained a shareholder.

It said a further disposal of shares could take place before a conversation on pay and perks was necessary with AIB.

The submission said however: “Notwithstanding this, we will need to normalise the relationship between the State and AIB as our shareholding continues to reduce towards zero.

“[This] means considering the removal of the crisis-era measures (compensation cap, super tax etc) which continue to be still in place.”

A Department of Finance submission from mid-January said there was a lengthy window for a further sale of the state’s stake in AIB before their annual financial results on March 5.

It said officials were looking at a deal of around 5 percent of the bank, which could yield up to €669 million in return.

The submission said AIB had been one of the best performing banks in Europe through 2024 and that the department “should take advantage of this share price strength.”

The document added: “Should the AIB share price weaken ahead of the launch date or if market conditions are not favourable then we will postpone this transaction and look at it again following AIB’s 2024 annual financial results.”

Minister Donohoe was advised he would need to have “political clearance” for the sale on the final weekend of January.

It said this would leave a “clear path” for the department to move quickly and “take advantage of market conditions.”

Officials did warn however, of the possibility of sudden volatility or a leak and how this could lead to a halt of the latest AIB share sale.

“This happened [to] the U.K. government during Summer 2021 on Natwest,” the submission added.

In a note, Minister Donohoe – who had been reappointed days before – wrote “excellent work and look forward to catching up with the team soon.”

More than 900 people recruited to the Defence Forces left within less than five years of joining the military since 2020.

New figures show how 837 men and 65 women resigned their post without having even completed five years of full service.

This included members from across the force from cadet to commandant according to data released by the Defence Forces.

The Defence Forces strength in numbers has been in decline in recent years and fell below 7,500 last year.

The figures show that 43 cadets and 637 recruits left the military within five years of having joined up in the period since 2020.

A further 7 apprentices, 175 privates, and 11 corporals also departed not long after becoming members of the Defence Forces.

The data showed 11 corporals and 5 sergeants, whose careers appeared to be progressing well, left the military as well.

There were departures too from the commissioned ranks with 2 ensigns, 4 lieutenants and 4 sub-lieutenants leaving within five years.

In addition to that, 7 captains and 7 commandments also resigned their post not long after becoming members.

Overall, 902 people left within five years of joining between 2020 and 2024, with 199 departing during the course of last year.

Defence Forces spokesman Commandant Conor Hurley said retention was influenced by a variety of factors including terms and conditions, job satisfaction, workplace culture as well as broader socio-economic factors.

He said there were ongoing efforts to support keeping people in the Defence Forces and that last year there was a 70.6 percent increase in the number of inductions to the Army, Air Corp and Naval Service compared to 2023.

That saw 708 people sign up as compared to just 415 the previous year.

The government department responsible for housing asylum seekers says it will no longer publicly identify its staff after one had their personal information shared online while others were threatened with violence.

The Department of Children and Equality said there was a “tangible risk” for staff as they grappled with incidents involving arson attacks, threats to staff and facilities, animal cruelty incidents and widespread intimidation.

Under normal circumstances, public bodies are obliged to provide the names of staff members when publishing documents or releasing them in response to Freedom of Information requests.

However, the department said it had become too dangerous in a “turbulent environment” for people working in international protection and integration.

They said the threat of violence against their employees from far-right extremists was very real and that the decision to withhold staff names was “not taken lightly.”

The department said release of any information could reasonably be expected to endanger safety based on a spate of incidents.

They said: “[There have been] notable and multiple instances of protest and criminality associated with IPAS [International Protection Accommodation Services] facilities.

“In addition to welcome discourse, or peaceful protests that have taken place during this period, the international protection accommodation sector has also had to contend with arson attacks, threats to staff and facilities including threats of fire, animal cruelty incidents, intimidation of people at work, and damage to facilities and staff property.”

They said one staff member had already been ‘doxxed’ on social media with their personal information shared widely.

The department said further information could easily be used to track down civil servants through social media using as little as their name and employer.

They said they would also be withholding the names of staff members in other public bodies that came into contact with the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS).

A letter from them said: “There have been several instances of officials from various public bodies having their names, images and job titles shared on social media due to their association with the work of IPAS.”

It said there was a “significant risk” for anyone working in the sector and that even people with a limited involvement could be targeted online.

The department also said they would no longer provide details of the names and locations of centres used for accommodation for international protection applicants.

“Between August 2023 and August 2024, there were 33 recorded arson attacks on current, potential or rumoured international protection accommodation centres,” the department said.

“Others have been subject to protest including criminal damage.”

The department said that while some accommodation centres were well known amongst the public, there were “many which are not.”

They added: “The department has a duty under [international protection laws] to protect and guarantee the privacy of international protection applicants and to ensure that their identity as international protection applicants is kept confidential.”

The government ruled out buying a second-hand executive jet to fly the President, Taoiseach, and ministers around the world saying it was too hard to get a good deal on a used plane.

In a business case supporting the purchase of a €53 million Dassault Falcon 6X jet, officials said buying it would actually save the taxpayer money through its occasional use as an air ambulance and for emergency evacuations.

It said the new jet would also save €500,000 if ministers and officials did not have to wait in queues for commercial airlines.

A further €17.8 million would be clawed back through the “enhanced time period available for work on a private flight relative to [a regular journey].”

It said one of the biggest savings would come from not having to charter private jets, which the Department of Defence believed could cost upwards of €41 million over the coming years.

Overall, the business case said the benefits of buying a brand-new executive jet would come to €113 million – more than double the actual purchase price.

The document was prepared in advance of the purchase saying the government’s existing Learjet had a “deteriorated condition”.

It said: “Owing to serviceability issues, the Learjet is no longer capable of providing [a ministerial transport service], further underlining the urgency of the requirement for a replacement aircraft.”

The business case said a reliable plane would be essential especially during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2026.

The document said: “Connectivity via scheduled commercial flights to and from Ireland has improved overall … nonetheless, commercial flight options are by nature limited and subject to seasonal influences or availability.”

It put forward a number of options which included buying a new ‘mid-size’ or ‘super mid-size’ jet or getting a second-hand model of either type.

Also mooted was leasing a plane on an ongoing basis, but the chosen option was purchase of a brand new ‘mid-size’.

It did say however, that “the cheapest and most economic option” was to look at a second-hand plane.

However, efforts to find something suitable – and less than five years old – failed, according to the business case.

It said: “As aircraft are typically purchased new and not disposed of for a number of years it was held to be unusual for an aircraft less than three to five years old to be available on the market unless it was part of a distressed asset sale.”

A separate analysis conducted for the department found that the second-hand market was in a depressed state with demand far outstripping supply.

It said one of the biggest problems would be that when a used jet was put up for sale, it was often bought within one hundred days.

“These market conditions were and are viewed to create a challenge for any government, constrained by the legal and regulatory environment of public procurement rules,” the business case explained.

It said efforts had continued to see if the government could pick up a bargain.

The document said: “The project team did continue to monitor the possibility of obtaining a higher capability aircraft second hand for a cost from other governments, that is similar or slightly above what a smaller less capable new aircraft could cost, with no success.”

Asked about the records, a spokesman for the Department of Defence said the new jet would be used for a variety of tasks including evacuations of Irish citizens from “critical situations”, air ambulance duties, medical evacuations, and transport of supplies.

He added: “It will also provide an independent transport service for government, an increasingly essential requirement in meeting international obligations.”