Author: Ken Foxe

Staff at one county council claimed mileage for making repeated journeys to the same location on the very same day, made claims based on inaccurate distances, and declared starting or destination locations that wrongly bumped up their expense payments.

An internal audit of travel and subsistence claims at Donegal County Council found just 28 of 120 claims had been completed fully and accurately.

Under Revenue rules, civil servants are supposed to declare the shortest route for their journey using either their home address or their workplace, whichever of them is closest to where they are going.

However, the audit found that in at least 27 cases from the 120 claims examined, staff members had declared the longer distance for mileage purposes.

In other cases, staff were found to be making multiple trips to the same location on the same day, or travelling to the same area of the county on consecutive days.

Employees also claimed subsistence payments for journeys close by their office or that were on their way to and from the office.

In one case, a staff member photocopied the exact same set of journeys for their expense claims and submitted it each month.

“This does not constitute ‘vouched expenses’ in Internal Audit’s opinion,” said the report.

These records were released to Right to Know following a decision of the Information Commissioner that Donegal County Council could not charge significant fees (read that decision here)

You can read the audits here. We also have separate audits from Kildare and Wexford available.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar wrote to four of the world’s biggest technology companies asking them what more they could to tackle illegal gatherings and the spread of misinformation during the pandemic.

Mr Varadkar sent letters to Facebook, Twitter, Google, and TikTok in the wake of violent protests on the streets of Dublin earlier this year.

He said the events were “clearly planned” using social media platforms and private messaging services and that he had been “appalled” by what happened.

The Tánaiste said that this behaviour by a “selfish few” had undermined the sacrifices that millions of Irish people had made over the last year.

Illegal hunting can be used as a front by criminals to check property, equipment, and security according to a joint garda and department memo on wildlife crime.

The memo also says property damage and threats against landowners are all taking place during the illicit hunting of hares.

It said badger baiting and dog fighting can be associated with known criminals and attracted in “overseas criminals” who wanted to bet on the fights.

The memo said unlawful hunting with firearms at night was a problem throughout Ireland usually targeting wild deer populations.

And it said that there had been numerous instances of horses or cattle being accidentally shot, with bullets on occasion hitting houses and farm buildings.

The details are contained in a joint protocol signed between gardaí and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to tackle wildlife crime, and which has been released under access to environmental information regulations.

The Office of Public Works has spent more than €215,000 on gardening and pest control at the President’s Áras an Uachtaráin residence over the past three years.

Details of pest control reports from the Áras reveal a litany of problems with rats, mice, and crawling insects across the sprawling estate in the Phoenix Park.

A wasp nest was also found in the attic space of the “private quarters” of the Áras, according to inspection reports released by the OPW.

The records also detail how a motion sensor camera was to be installed in the kitchens after an elusive rodent was spotted on a number of different occasions.

The data was released following a request made using the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations.

The Office of Public Works had originally refused to release the reports saying the President was excluded from the scope of the AIE regulations in the same way as that office was excluded from Freedom of Information legislation.

The OPW said they had a duty of care to the President and that providing the information might have “generated negative media coverage”.

However, the Commissioner for Environmental Information found the records were held by the OPW and that there was no exemption for records they held relating to the Áras through the AIE Regulations.

Two employees at the Office of Public Works earned in excess of €30,000 last year in overtime as the agency’s annual overtime bill came to €2.7 million.

The employees were among at least twenty that earned at least €14,000 extra on top of their salary over the course of 2020.

A log of the top twenty overtime earners at the OPW last year reveals annual additional payments ranging from €14,535 to €31,356.

The agency’s overtime bill actually decreased last year during the Covid-19 pandemic from €3.3 million in 2019 to €2.73 million last year.

The OPW said overtime was a necessity because many of the sites they operate – including the Phoenix Park and Dublin Castle – operated on a twenty-four-hour, seven day a week basis.

This is a large upload of records from An Bord Bia covering issues for the food industry arising from Brexit.

There are multiple records in here and you can find them as follows:

• Page 1: Brexit Update from 3 December 2020.
• Page 84: Brexit Update from 10 December 2020.
• Page 168: Brexit Update from 18 December 2020.
• Page 173: Brexit Update from 22 December 2020.
• Page 205: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 8 January 2021.
• Page 232: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 15 January 2021.
• Page 261: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 22 January 2021.
• Page 293: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 29 January 2021.
• Page 326: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 5 February 2021.
• Page 360: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 12 February 2021.
• Page 398: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 19 February 2021.
• Page 436: Internal Brexit Briefing Document from 26 February 2021.
• Page 461: A log of issues raised by Irish exporters.
• Page 469: CEO Report February 2021 (non Brexit material redacted)
• Page 526: Driving Growth Post-Brexit – February version
• Page 577: Driving Growth Post-Brexit – January version

The country’s busiest maternity hospital secured less than half the funding they sought last year for replacement of ageing, and sometimes failing equipment.

In some cases, equipment had reached end of its service life in 2014 and 2015 while some items were described as “technically obsolete”.

Other pieces of laboratory kit were said to be “causing lots of problems” while in other cases, management were warned they “cannot afford” for certain aging critical equipment to begin to fail or start creating issues.

A replacement programme list detailed €1.87 million worth of equipment that was in urgent need of replacement during 2020.

However, the hospital said the funding received from the HSE for the replacement programme last year had been €816,000.

A statement from the Rotunda said that there was traditionally a shortfall in funding and that they needed to “manage and mitigate this”.

Fianna Fáil’s finance director told the Standards Commission (SIPO) that Taoiseach Micheal Martin was not to blame for wrongly accepting a €1,000 donation from his own party.

David Burke wrote to SIPO to say that Mr Martin had followed his advice at all times asking if this could be taken note of by the commission.

Records obtained under FOI reveal how Fianna Fáil told the Commission they had an “exemplary record” on compliance with electoral law over the past ten years.

However, they said they regretted the “unintended oversight” of having allowed the Taoiseach and Senator Malcolm Byrne to accept donations of €1,000 and €2,900 from the party which were not allowed.

Under electoral legislation, if a party wants to contribute to a member of their party, they are first supposed to register as a corporate donor.

However, two of the government parties – Fianna Fáil and the Green Party – did not do this and were subsequently asked to return donations that had been made to a number of members.

The Department of Foreign Affairs spent nearly €3 million on three major refurbishment projects of Irish embassies and consulates.

The programme of work included spending of just over €800,000 at a new consulate in Mumbai, India, €1.3 million on the recently opened consulate in Vancouver, Canada, and €828,000 in expenditure at the Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand.

At the Wellington Embassy, €1,736 was spent on a designer handmade rug called a Teadra Round, according to a database of expenditure released under FOI.

Another €2,263 was paid out for what was described as “wool Donegal tweed” with €5,593 paid to a company for interior design and layout services.

The bulk of the €828,000 spent went to construction firms for the actual fit-out with €5,850 paid out in professional fees for logistical and technical support.

In the Vancouver consulate, just over €6,000 was spent on artwork including €1,790 paid for a triptych called Golden Reeds Winter by the artist and photographer Hugh MacConville.

Gardaí have made a payment of nearly €270,000 to the Revenue Commissioners in settlement of a VAT bill for the restaurant and shop at their training college.

The payment was made as a “technical adjustment” according to a garda audit and without any penalties being applied.

Confusion had arisen over how goods sold at the restaurant and shop in Templemore should be charged for VAT, according to the report.

The audit also discusses the resolution of issues around the controversial lease of OPW land in Templemore by gardaí where rent was never passed on to the Office of Public Works.