TheStory.ie

The government paid nearly €1.4 million for a forty-hectare tract of land to expand the Glen of the Downs nature reserve.

Three independent valuations had given an average value for the County Wicklow site of around €1.16 million but a higher price was ultimately agreed.

Internal records detail how one valuation said the land was worth just €800,000 because it was used for commercial forestry.

Another estate agent reckoned the site could fetch €1.2 million while one said it could be worth up to €1.5 million.

An internal memo said the higher values reflected the possibility that the land could be redeveloped as a golf course.

However, it said there was an “overabundance” of golf courses in the area and that several had closed, one less than a kilometre from the site.

The memo said: “The average valuation on the lands in question in my view reflect a more realistic value, in that it places the lands somewhat over commercial forestry values.

“[It also] recognises the location will enhance the land value and reflect the premium that the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) might place on what is essentially commercial forestry land, but with the strategic value to NPWS.”

A submission for Housing Minister James Browne said buying the land would improve access to the Glen of the Downs nature reserve.

It said that it would be particularly valuable for dealing with health and safety issues by allowing easier access to emergency vehicles and NPWS staff.

The submission said the nature reserve would be expanded and that the land would be transitioned back to native woodland.

It also said it would help Ireland meet its obligations under legislation on nature restoration.

The document said a price of €1.375 million had been agreed for the lands, which were at one stage owned by the semi-state forestry agency Coillte.

The submission said: “As far as can be ascertained Coillte did not offer NPWS an opportunity to purchase these lands nor were NPWS asked for any views or input.

“With this sale, access previously enjoyed by NPWS to the Nature Reserve from Ballydonagh Lane ended, posing substantial logistics and operational constraints on NPWS on this site.”

It said the purchase would grow the nature reserve by 68 per cent and that the land was already well used by the public.

The submission also said buying the land could be problematic for private buyers as there would be rights of way issues around full access.

However, it argued that the site was of strategic value to the State and that there was “value-for-money in this purchase.”

Asked about the deal, a Department of Housing spokesman said: “While [the price paid] is above the simple average valuation due to one outlier low valuation, it is well within the range of valuations received at the time.

“This strategic acquisition will see the conversion of commercial timber forestry into native woodland, over time, utilising local seed sources, invasive species controls and techniques such as continuous cover forestry to enable a sensitive transition that protects vulnerable soils.”

Metal girders warped and deformed in a fire that reached temperatures of 1000 degrees Celsius and destroyed a light rail bridge.

An inspection of the George’s Dock Bridge, which carries Luas trams in Dublin, showed visible buckling of steel while concrete lost most of its structural strength.

A report said bearings were exposed to direct fire as components melted and concrete bearing plinths were cracked and damaged in the August blaze.

The rails that carried trams also buckled from the extraordinary heat while handrails were “badly heat-distorted.”

The scale of the damage was so severe that it could end up being cheaper to rebuild the bridge entirely rather than trying to repair it.

A report by engineering firm Arup said fixing it up would be “highly complex and lengthy.”

It said the entire concrete deck would have to be removed and recast while steel girders would need to be heat-straightened or cut out and replaced.

More “severe distortion” of the metal would need bolting or welding, and all of it would need extensive stress testing.

A report said: “Arup estimated that the cost of repair could approach (or even exceed) the cost of a new bridge.”

It said repair, while technically feasible, would be slow, expensive and leave Luas with an “old structure with patchwork fixes.”

A scoping document from the National Transport Authority said it might also be possible to temporarily strengthen the bridge with a view to a full renovation later.

This would involve propping up the bridge from beneath and could have been used to get Luas services back in operation more quickly.

However, designing and installing the props would itself take time “reducing the advantage of ‘quickly’ reopening.”

The document said: “[It also] required the installation of props in the old George’s Dock (a water basin) which would be technically challenging and potentially require cofferdams or barges.

“It introduced its own safety and logistical risks.”

In the end, the National Transport Authority opted to build an entirely new bridge, ensuring full structural safety and a lifespan of over 100 years.

It was back open in late November, just over three months after the blaze, and in time for the busy Christmas season.

The report said: “Although building a new bridge sounds time-consuming, Arup argued it could be done relatively fast by using accelerated bridge construction methods (fabricating the new span off-site while preparations are made on-site).

“Arup pointed out that repair work might drag on longer than a replacement, whereas a replacement could be done in a matter of months if prioritised.”

It said costs were likely to be similar to repair while giving “peace of mind,” a longer lifespan, and easier maintenance.

The engineers said the replacement would be a more effective use of taxpayer funds than an “uncertain refurbishment.”

No definitive cause for the fire was provided in the documents.

However, a letter from Transport Infrastructure Ireland said a gas pipeline had ruptured during the blaze “and was apparently the source of the flames.”

Asked about the documents and the project, an NTA spokesman said while the final cost of the project was not known, it was estimated to be in the region of €7 million.

Ireland’s brand new Central Mental Hospital (CMH) is still grappling with serious safety and governance problems more than a year after an unprecedented inspection found widespread regulatory failures.

Internal records show that multiple issues identified during a 2024 inspection by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) remained unresolved midway through 2025.

This is despite the fact that the North Dublin campus opened just three years ago and was described by the then health minister Stephen Donnelly as “state-of-the-art” and a “major achievement”.

The MHC inspection found the hospital was compliant with just 51 per cent of the regulations examined and resulted in an Immediate Action Notice, a highly unusual step for a new-build facility.

In correspondence obtained under FOI, the hospital acknowledged the “stark findings” and said it was “very challenging and disappointing” to have fallen short of minimum standards.

They said extensive work had taken place but that a number of issues were still listed as “in progress” well into 2025.

These include procedures around patient admission, transfer and discharge, records management, the delivery of therapeutic services, and works to parts of the hospital building, including cracking floor surfaces.

The records also show that full compliance in some areas has been delayed by limitations in the hospital’s electronic systems, despite the facility being newly developed.

The CMH told the regulator that changes to its electronic health record system are required, but upgrades will not be complete until early 2026.

One of the most serious failures related to the monitoring of patients placed in seclusion.

Inspectors found that intercom systems used to communicate with patients were ineffective with staff describing them as “not fit for purpose.”

The hospital acknowledged that it was difficult to hear patients in distress unless the intercom system was actively engaged.

The documents show the hospital relied on interim safety measures while other solutions, including increased observation by staff, were explored.

One proposed solution was delayed amid concerns it would create ligature points in seclusion rooms that would create a risk of self-harm.

Later updates detail how acoustic improvements were eventually installed and tested, which had made it easier for staff to hear patients.

The correspondence also shows ongoing engagement with the regulator over whether the system, even with mitigations, met the required standard.

The hospital also told the regulator that recruitment delays had affected the delivery of therapeutic services, including psychology, with waiting times ranging from two weeks to six months.

Asked about the records, a spokesperson for the National Forensic Mental Health Service said they welcomed the work of the Mental Health Commission.

He said: “It is very challenging and disappointing that the CMH has fallen short of the expected minimum standards.

“We have put in place appropriate corrective and preventative actions to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

“The CMH is committed to improving regulatory compliance and has provided assurances and evidence of these undertakings to the MHC.”

He said the hospital had a committed, skilled, and caring workforce but acknowledged that the demands on staff, systems and processes during “an extended and not yet complete time of change” had been substantial.

The Department of Justice anticipated it would need a €15 million war chest to fight legal challenges next year from failed asylum seekers and those facing deportation.

In internal discussions, the International Protection Office (IPO) said “exceptionally high levels of litigation” could be expected as they dramatically speed up the time it takes to deal with applications for refugee status.

The IPO said the higher number of negative decisions and deportations would inevitably lead to a surge in judicial reviews.

As part of pre-budget submissions, the office said removing failed asylum seekers from the State more quickly was critical because it would stop people from “accumulating more rights.”

It claimed this would make their deportation easier, reduce accommodation costs, and discourage people from coming to Ireland in the first place.

The submission said: “The faster that final decisions can be made on an individual international protection application, the easier it is for a removal to take place.

“Additionally, the perception of lengthy processing times in the system may attract additional applications.”

The pre-budget papers said the expected increase in refusals would have a domino effect across the entire asylum system, including the appeals body IPAT and in the courts.

In an email, Richard Dixon – the Chief International Protection Officer – told colleagues a failure to adequately fund the asylum system would reduce their ability to manage applications.

He said it would lead to increased costs in the delivery of accommodation, social welfare, and other entitlements for asylum seekers.

Mr Dixon warned as well of “increased risk regarding judicial reviews and other legal costs.”

His email concluded: “Any reduction in capacity runs the risk of reducing public confidence in the integrity of the immigration system.”

Nearly 120 gardaí travelled on a charter flight to Georgia that cost almost €190,000 and carried just 52 deportees.

Just one of the passengers had a long history of criminality, while one other had committed a theft offence and two had minor traffic convictions.

Briefings for Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan detail how thirty-five men, ten women, two girls, and five boys were on board the flight in November.

He was told that four family groups had been removed and that the 52 deportees had an average time in the State of two years and eight months.

The family groups included three mothers travelling alone, two of whom had two children and one who had three.

The briefing on ‘Operation Trench’ said that 119 members of An Garda were on board the flight as well as a translator, a human rights monitor, a doctor, and a paramedic.

A Q&A sheet prepared for Mr O’Callaghan said that 41 of the 52 on board were held in custody in the heavily overcrowded Irish prison system prior to departure.

It said that individuals could be held for up to eight weeks to ensure a deportation could be carried out successfully.

The briefing document said: “Any children removed were part of family groups and were not detained.”

The Q&A said sometimes lengthy periods of detention were required because otherwise “people may abscond.”

A suggested answer for the minister said: “The legislation provides that people can be held for up to 56 days … but it is usually significantly less than that and we would seek to minimise it.”

The briefing document also revealed that some of those on board had “open applications” for revocation of their removal order.

If asked about that, Mr O’Callaghan was advised to say that an application of that type “does not suspend deportation.”

The Q&A included suggested answers for what to say if asked about the presence of young children on the flight.

It said it could be emphasised that all were travelling with a parent and that the human rights monitor would keep a close watch.

The briefing said: “These families will have been encouraged to take the option of voluntary return; that would have both avoided this outcome and given them significant support in the form of a reintegration grant.”

On whether it was a “good use” of the time of nearly 120 gardaí, the minister was told deportations were a “difficult experience” for those involved.

One suggested answer said: “These operations require highly skilled and trained people to ensure the safety of everyone on the flight.”

The briefing claimed the cost of charter flights was generally comparable to removal operations on commercial flights.

However, it said there had never been a specific cost-benefit analysis for the flights.

The National Gallery warned the OPW that diesel fumes from Leinster House’s emergency generator were billowing into its building, leading to health and safety complaints from staff.

The monthly generator tests are needed to make sure the parliament’s back-up electricity supply is fully functioning.

However, the tests have alarmed the gallery which has been forced to shut rooms filled with valuable artworks and close off public access.

Records released under FOI reveal multiple occasions where fumes entered the National Gallery’s (NGI) historic wings.

In emails, the NGI also told the OPW that staff were worried there was a health hazard from the generator testing.

In June, testing of the generator led to the closure of galleries to the public in the landmark Dublin building.

An email from the NGI’s head of operations to the OPW said: “It has not happened for some time to my knowledge, and I had thought it had been resolved.

“I understand you are working on some additional measures, but can any generator testing be undertaken outside of gallery hours until such time as the matter is remedied?”

Another message said the diesel fumes had accumulated in several rooms including the famous Shaw Room and multiple other exhibition spaces.

The email read: “Leinster House was informed, and they instructed the OPW to turn the generator off.

“The rooms were re-opened at 10.30am when the fumes had dissipated. This problem has not gone away yet.”

The NGI repeatedly asked the OPW if the testing could be carried out much earlier in the day to avoid any disruption for the public or staff.

An email said: “This has led to a number of health and safety complaints from staff at the Gallery.

“You will appreciate that addressing a H&S [health and safety] matter of this nature is very important to the gallery and as one possible solution, we are asking if generator testing can be conducted during gallery out of hours periods.”

The problematic testing had also reared its head in the summer of 2024 when a staff member took a video showing fumes rising through a grid and up towards air vents.

Several incident reports were also logged with one saying: “Today we closed rooms 14 to 20 because of a strong smell of diesel fumes from a generator in Leinster House.”

Another said: “Closed the Dargan wing to the public for one hour this morning. Diesel generator in Leinster House active causing diesel fumes to accumulate.”

Asked about the correspondence and any possible risk to staff or their art collection, the National Gallery said they had no comment to make.

There were more than three times as many gardaí as deportees on a half-full flight to Pakistan even though it included just one person with a serious criminal conviction.

Internal notes from the Department of Justice show that the deportation operation in September cost €474,000 and involved only 24 failed asylum seekers.

Three of the persons on board had “minor offences” on their record but were never sent to jail while one had a serious criminal conviction from the UK.

The notes show that 79 members of An Garda were on board, an average of 3.3 per deportee as well as a doctor, a paramedic, a translator, and a human rights monitor.

The average bill for each deportee was around €20,000, as the department said in a statement that such operations were “costly and complex to enforce.”

They said charter flights increased the options and capacity available to gardaí and that staffing arrangements were a policing matter.

A statement said: “[The Garda National Immigration Bureau] conducts a risk assessment for the safety of those travelling. This informs the number of personnel involved.”

The department said the cost of what they called ‘Operation Toboggan’ had been €473,000 with a further €1,120 spent on catering costs.

They were not able to provide details of staffing or overtime costs incurred by An Garda in sending 79 officers on the flight to Islamabad.

An internal note said the Airbus A330 used had 256 seats available but travelled less than half full on the seven-and-a-half-hour flight to Pakistan.

The note said there were no family groups involved and that the 24 deportees ranged from 23 to 66 years in age.

Their average time in the State was nine years and three months with 10 living in IPAS centres and 14 in private accommodation.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland said they were hamstrung by year-on-year budget allocations, conflicting government policy, and delays from judicial review.

In a presentation to a high-powered infrastructure taskforce, Transport Infrastructure Ireland said constantly changing government policy was like working with “moving goalposts.”

It said there was a lack of clear priorities and that annual funding instead of multi-annual budgets led to a “thin pipeline” of projects.

TII said policy on climate action and spatial planning was changing faster than the planning process leading to considerable risks.

It said some projects could be given planning permission but that government policy would change in the meantime and leave them “open to judicial review.”

The presentation was given to the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce in June by TII’s chief executive Peter Walsh.

It said population growth in Ireland had left services and the transport network under severe pressure and investment was needed.

Chronic congestion problems in cities like Cork, Galway, and Waterford were getting worse and becoming more costly to productivity.

It said government needed to set out much clearer national priorities and that state agencies had to work more closely together.

TII said multi-annual funding would give confidence to industry and that broader infrastructure plans were something that could be looked at.

It said the Adare Bypass had been a good recent example of government bodies working together to get a project moving quickly.

On the planning system, TII said there was “no economic risk” involved for people that took a judicial review.

The presentation said it could add delays of between one and four years and that planning for infrastructure was taking up to nine years, and sometimes even longer.

TII also highlighted government approval processes which required several lengthy technical reviews by multiple agencies.

It said this led to the reopening of “settled questions” causing delays while guidance on how to appraise projects kept changing.

The slideshow said the various review layers should be “collapsed” and the focus should be on mega-projects worth half a billion euro or more.

TII lamented resourcing issues and said “stop-start project delivery” was making it difficult to retain resources, expertise and capacity.

The presentation said local authorities were overstretched, with eroded skills and facing recruitment barriers.

Contractors sometimes favoured work in other countries leading to “leakage,” as it was essential for them to have reasonable certainty or predictability on available work.

It added: “Public confidence in schemes [is] impacted.”

The Data Protection Commission sought a massive €10 million hike in its budget as it looked to combat the “unfair narrative” that it was soft on Big Tech.

In a pre-budget submission, the DPC said it was looking to increase annual spending to €39.8 million in 2026, a year-on-year increase of more than a third.

This would include an extra €8 million for pay and €2.37 million for non-pay, according to records released under FOI.

In a letter to the Department of Justice, the DPC said it was fully aware of the need to balance diverse funding needs across the justice sector.

However, it said its job of upholding people’s fundamental right to data protection was a “national priority.”

A submission said the DPC was being asked to act as lead authority for global technology companies that were worth billions of euro while spending just a tiny fraction of their budgets.

It said the commission was under intense scrutiny from EU member states and MEPs about its ability to lead data protection regulation for Big Tech.

One piece of correspondence stated: “The extremely challenging environment and (unfair) narrative of recent years from which we are now emerging needs to be recalled in this context.

“Continuing to build the DPC’s reputation internationally and, thereby confidence in Ireland’s regulatory environment, requires continuing investment.”

The Data Protection Commission also detailed how the European Commission had 270 staff working on just the Digital Services Act with a supporting budget of €55 million.

By contrast, the DPC’s entire workforce of 280 operated with annual spending of €29.4 million.

The commission said incoming EU laws on AI, political advertising, and harmonising regulations around complaints were going to massively increase its workload.

The pre-budget submission said: “The DPC will need to expand all its expert teams to meet this increased obligation, as well as ensuring enough senior staff are recruited.”

In the July submission, its two commissioners – Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland – said the work of the agency added huge value to the economy.

They explained how the DPC had imposed fines exceeding €4 billion since the application of GDPR.

The correspondence said the commission would be able to grow aggressively if funded and that 78 new people would be hired this year.

It said previous underspends were historic and that it was instructed to pause recruitment for a four-to-six-week period by the Department of Public Expenditure.

A note said: “It was well within DPC’s power to recruit more staff this year had we not been curtailed by this, which was outside of our control.”

In a response in September, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said his department was “very cognisant” of the importance of the DPC as one of the largest data protection authorities in Europe.

The minister said he had taken note of the concerns raised and of the “increased workload” expected from significant new and amended EU legislation.

However, his letter added: “You will be aware of the wider budgetary pressures and the current uncertainty due to global circumstances.

“Any budgetary decisions have to be made with this situation in mind, and I am committed to providing the DPC with the resources it needs, subject to budgetary considerations.”

In the Budget 2026 announcement, the Department of Justice promised a further 10 percent increase to the budget of the commission with an extra €3 million to support increased staffing.

The government was warned it could face full-scale revolt from farmers over policy on climate change.

A strategic review commissioned by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said “grassroots resistance” had emerged in other countries and rapidly overturned green initiatives.

It said there was a “sustained and growing distrust” of climate policy in the Irish agriculture sector and rural communities.

Politicians in farming constituencies were already facing regular challenges from voters and the possibility of well-organised movements against environmental initiatives was real.

The unpublished paper said: “In my view, this resistance needs to be taken seriously as a major potential threat to climate policy.”

It said farmers needed to be regarded as “custodians of the land” and the use of the word ‘rewetting’ reconsidered because it suggested ‘flooding.’

The review found a range of other issues around national policy including that there was little trust in government communication.

It said the government’s messaging was “often generic and dry” and there was a “silo mentality” among public bodies.

Other findings included that Ireland’s delays on implementation of its net-zero plans were causing “tension” with EU partners and the risk of large penalties.

The report, written by international climate communications expert George Marshall, said Ireland actually had a strong foundation with a “generally high level of public concern” about changing climate.

It said we were fortunate there was so far “very little of the organised ideological denial” found elsewhere in Europe and other English-speaking countries.

However, it said the processes for making climate decisions were “complex and inefficient” spanning multiple government departments.

It said stated ambitions in the Climate Action Plan required a “far higher rate of progress and activity.”

The review found that programmes that actually reach the public, especially hard-to-reach groups, were limited.

“Without strategic targets or timeline, there is inadequate attention to scale or scalability,” the author wrote.

He said the government lacked a “coherent strategy” for public engagement and queried whether existing programmes offered value for money.

The report said apathy was a particular problem with around one in five Irish people believing nothing they did on climate could make a difference in the bigger picture.

It said the government needed to take more risks in leadership and be decisive in recognising the climate crisis as an emergency.

The author said it was particularly important that new voices emerged to communicate the threats and opportunities.

It said politicians were “rarely trusted outside their own supporter base,” so a more grassroots approach was needed.

The report said: “It is essential to build trust and support through the mobilisation of new voices and communicators, especially for addressing concerns and building constructive dialogue with farmers and rural communities.

“As noted above, there are major potential risks from not prioritising this audience.”

The review said that Ireland’s experience during the financial crash and the COVID-19 pandemic showed people would “work together and make personal sacrifices.”

“[This happens] if they feel that there is a social norm behind taking action, and that they are contributing to a shared identity,” it said.

It said people needed to see themselves as “climate citizens” and how “not acting was not an option.”

Some of the suggestions included drawing on Irish culture, highlighting future impact on historic landscapes, species, and monuments, or adopting Irish-language words for things like ‘sustainable’, ‘green’, and ‘climate change’.

Government messaging over carbon taxes was also criticised in the report, with the author saying global research showed support depended on knowing where the money went.

It said in California, all recipients of funding displayed a logo while in Ireland there was “little understanding” about how the cash was spent.

The government was also warned about ‘tone,’ with people in the farming community especially feeling “judged and blamed.”

It said a more moderated honest and exploratory voice was needed and that some existing initiatives were weak.

The phrase ‘net zero’ was poorly understood while the use of ‘we are all in this together’ weakened after the pandemic.

It also said focus groups found that the use of ‘we’ created skepticism and it was better to actually say who was doing what.