Category: Comment

Yesterday there was a landmark decision by the Canadian Supreme Court, in Ministry of Public Safety and Security (Formerly Solicitor General) and Attorney General of Ontario vs Criminal Lawyers’ Association (and others). You can read the decision in full here. The Globe and Mail details the case:

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that an internal police report into a botched 1983 police investigation can potentially be suppressed without violating constitutional guarantees to free expression and informed public debate.

However, in a 7-0 ruling today, the Court also recognized the importance of information in a democracy and recognized a right to obtain suppressed information that is necessary to a full public debate of an important issue.

“To demonstrate that there is expressive content in accessing these documents, a claimant must establish that the denial of access effectively precludes meaningful public discussion on matters of public interest,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and Madam Justice Rosalie Abella wrote for the Court.

It said in the right circumstances, citizens can wrest confidential information from government hands unless it is protected by privilege, Cabinet confidentiality or its disclosure would interfere with the proper functioning of a government institution.

And (my emphasis):

Lawyers who argued the case welcomed the ruling as a long-awaited recognition of the role that access to information plays in a democracy.

“Canada has become the first western country to recognize that access to information is not just a gift to Canadians,” said lawyer Brad Elberg, who represented the Criminal Lawyers Association. “It is guaranteed to us as part of our constitutional right of freedom of expression. If a court finds that a citizen requires government information to meaningfully express her or himself, the constitution may require the government to give the citizen access to that information.”

The best line of the judgement:

In sum, there is a prima facie case that s. 2(b) [of the c may require disclosure of documents in government hands where it is shown that, without the desired access, meaningful public discussion and criticism on matters of public interest would be substantially impeded. As Louis D. Brandeis famously wrote in his 1913 article in Harper’s Weekly entitled “ What Publicity Can Do”: “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants … .” Open government requires that the citizenry be granted access to government records when it is necessary to meaningful public debate on the conduct of government institutions.

So BP has pledged $20bn to cleaning up the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico…

WASHINGTON — US lawmakers on Wednesday welcomed BP’s agreement to create a $20billion fund to pay claims from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill but vowed to keep holding the energy giant’s feet to the fire.

President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies cheered the news as a solid step towards helping afflicted areas recover from the worst environmental catastrophe in US history but said that more action would be needed.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi welcomed the news but warned: “If it takes more than 20 billion dollars, BP will have to cover the full amount for the families, workers, and small business owners of the Gulf Coast.”

The republicans are calling the spill “Obama’s Katrina”.

$20bn is €16bn.

Also today, now in perspective…

Chief Executive Mike Aynsley said Anglo is seeking to establish a “good bank” with roughly €2.5bn of capital, meaning Dublin would be unable to recover the remaining €19.5bn it is likely to inject.

“The lion’s share of this will never be seen again,” Aynsley told a parliamentary hearing.

“That money is gone … It will not be recoverable.”

Anglo Irish Bank, probably more expensive than the BP Oil spill.

Anglo Chairman, Alan Dukes, has just left the Oireachtas Finance Committee meeting in Committee Room One of Leinster House. The transcript won’t be up for a while – and I’m not sure if this will get any coverage in the papers – but Shane Ross asked him some most interesting questions. The Sunday Indo journalist and Senator put it to Dukes, in no uncertain terms that recent appointees to the Anglo board were foisted on them by Government.

Paraphrasing (will link when transcript becomes available):

Ross: “Did you interview the new board members? Did you even interview [the Fianna Fail fundraiser and ‘protege’ of Charlie Haughey] Aidan Eames?”

Dukes: “Eh, well… I’m not going to answer that question”.

Ross: Why not? Why not answer that question? How much are these people being paid? How much is the taxpayer paying them?

Dukes: You can look at our annual reports for this year when they come out, I don’t need to answer these questions.

And so it went on. It’s not necessarily revealing that the appointments were government-made – they were probably chosen by Brian Lenihan, as he had the option – what’s interesting is Dukes’s refusal to answer the question; by doing so he protects the Government from criticism as he doesn’t confirm Fianna Fail appointed one of their own. Dukes being the former public interest representative on the Anglo board, remember. Gone native, anyone?

Oh, and also from the Committee Room, as RTE reports…

Meanwhile, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Aynsley said ‘the lion’s share’ of the €22bn, which will be put into the bank by the taxpayer, will never be seen again.

… Okey dokey.

Health policy analyst and one of the best health journalists we have, Sara Burke, on the miscarriage misdiagnoses. As she puts it “another damn mess”…

And essentially, the poor performance of our maternity services is is about under-resourcing. The physical conditions of our maternity hospitals and wards are generally appalling; they are bursting at the seams, under staffed and under resourced. We pretty much have the same facilities we had 10-15 years ago when there were just over 50,000 births – a 50% growth in births without a 50% increase in investment.

We have fewer consultants per population than any other EU country 2.2 versus 4.5 Holland, which is the second worst. Also in Holland, the vast majority of births are mid wife delivered, the opposite to Ireland. Here, there is an over reliance on junior doctors and a crisis in junior doctor provision.

Full post.

Adrian Kavanagh has posted an interesting and extensive geographical analysis of the Irish Times/MRBI poll on the Political Reform blog.

He extrapolates resulting seat totals too. They would be Fianna Fail 40; Fine Gael 55; Labour 54; Green Party 0; Sinn Féin 11; Other 6. Which, if reflected, would leave us in a right tizzy, with no clear coalitions. Has Gilmore ruled out government with FF? I can’t remember but something in the back of my mind tells me he has…

Read the post in in full on Political Reform.

Gary Murphy, Elaine Byrne and Eoghan Harris were on The Last Word with Matt Cooper yesterday for a “no confidence” debate. Listen to it here.

Elaine Byrne spoke for me –  a 22 year old Irishman – about feeling completely let-down by the State’s reaction to economic depression. While Gary Murphy argues against her on some elements I’m not sure his feelings are all that different, just less extreme. Eoghan Harris is a fool.

Partial transcript and comment below. Continue reading “"No confidence"”

Ah sure it’s Friday, so I’m thinking, why not?… Gav Reilly just asked a question on Twitter; “Is Bertie Ahern on any Oireachtas Committees?”

Answer: Not according to Oireachtas.ie.

In fact, you’d wonder if Bertie Ahern knows where the Dáil is at all these days. Maybe he has just forgotten, like the time he forgot Cavan was part of the nation he led?

Here’s his Dáil record, courtesy of Kildare Street.

Bertie Ahern has spoken in 0 Dáil debates in the last year, well below average among TDs.

Bertie Ahern has asked 0 parliamentary questions in the last year, well below average among TDs.

The three most recent appearances of this member in the Dáil record are:

February 4 2009 – Death of a Member; Expressions of Sympathy (Tony Gregory).

May 7 2008 – Resignation of Taoiseach (Bertie Ahern)

May 7 2008 – Nomination of Taoiseach

So, Bertie Ahern has contributed absolutely nothing of substance in two full years. We pay him €110,000 a year to be a member of parliament. Does being a TD now count as a ‘Bertie-earner’, Suzy?

FOOTNOTE: I quite like this last stat from his Kildare Street record. Across all his speeches Bertie Ahern “has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. “she sells seashells”) 2139 times in debates — well above average among TDs”.