TheStory.ie

Update: Gerard Cunningham says it better. As usual. Also, excellent comment from Aoife Citizen below. In yesterday’s paper Sean Flynn placed a date on the meeting.

Over the last few days I’ve only had one eye on the news, but what I’ve seen and heard about the grade inflation story has been awful confusing, altogether.

On Monday it was reported that the Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe had launched two “major inquiries” into the “dumbing down” of the Irish education system. The inquiries, according to Séan Flynn of The Irish Times, came following concerns being raised by “leading industrialists” at a “recent“, “no holds barred“, meeting with the minister.

“Recent”, I’d need not tell most readers of this blog, is vague word. Furthermore, saying “Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe has launched…” provides little certainty as to the date on which whatever was launched, was launched. From reading media reports (subsequent to Mondays’, and not alone the Times’), I’ve little idea of when the meeting between multi-nationals and the department of education took place. Nor am I positive of a date on which the grade inflation inquiries began.

However, considering that Craig Barrett was in Dublin on February 9, and the aforementioned use of “recent”, I think it’s fair to assume the meeting took place some time around then. It’s not as easy to make a guess a date on which the inquiries began. Thus, another assumption; within a week of the meeting.

On Tuesday Batt O’Keeffe said the “preliminary results [of the inquiries]… would be available within the week”. Why he didn’t say that 24 hours beforehand is unclear. Perhaps he didn’t know it when the news emerged (from him?) the day prior. Google et al welcomed his actions.

Also Tuesday came news that a separate study on grade inflation had been done by Trinity College academic staff for the TCD University Council. This (as now unpublished) study builds upon another one by the National Irish Educational Standards. It covers only the Irish universities and focuses on the period between 2005 and 2008, unlike the “major inquiries” which Minister O’Keeffe had ordered. The dept of education inquiries were set to look at the whole third level sector as well as the Leaving Cert program, both for the period of 1991 to date – a much, much larger study.

Despite having a far smaller number of institutes and far shorter time period to cover, according to minutes of the University Council meetings, it was two months before preliminary findings could be presented. At the September 30 meeting [PDF link] the Council directed the study to be undertaken, it was 25 November [also PDF] before any findings were offered. It’s also worth noting the findings which were offered were fairly basic, detailing the results of prior reports on the topic, in the main.

While the findings of the TCD group were supplied to the department for use in compiling their report, they remain unpublished (presumably they’re still being reviewed) five months on.

Nothing much relevant, really, on Wednesday.

The following day the department published the details of their inquiries. ‘Significant inflation’ was discovered, unsurprisingly. In the third level sector grade inflation was particularly evident before the establishment of the State Examination Committee in 2003, the department said. That is – apparently, from reading the University Council minutes – exactly as the TCD group had noted in their November ’09 statement. It would make you wonder if the department bothered to look at the non-Uni area of the third level sector at all. Actually, a number of the TCD group’s details noted in the Council minutes seem to have been ‘adopted’.

Regards second level, the department said the kids are okay, nothing to see here, grand.

Whatever about findings being adopted, the claim that two “major inquiries” could be undertaken within (seemingly, a maximum of…) four weeks, perhaps even less, is a hard to believe. Especially when you consider a far smaller study, covering a far shorter period, looking at just one sector, took twice as long to present preliminary findings.

Maybe I’ve missed something (hit me with a comment) but it all seems to have happened a little too quickly.

Grade inflation is a worth examining, I’m sure. But if you’re going to start an new quango, and base policy on a report, you best be sure the report is rock solid. Given how quickly it appears these were compiled, I have my doubts.

This is what blogs should be used to do.

Fantastic analysis from the team on Ireland After Nama into the latest Live Register figures complete with charts and visualisations. The video below is just one small part.

If you’re not a subscriber to that blog, why the hell not?

Congrats to Justin Gleeson, Rob Kitchin, and Matthias Borscheid on a great (and readable) piece of research.

Enlarge for easier understanding. The video covers Sept 2006 to Jan 2010.

Deer Bertie,

Remember that you have ta make sure ta account for the 10,000 pounds that, as I remember it, you did win from the lotto in the pub the other night. The Guvernmint might, as far as I understand the situation, come after ye and try ta tax it from ye or something and if they did do that and looked at your accounts or sumtin and the pounds wasnt in there then ye might be in trouble and then, as I far as I’m aware of the situation as, as, as, as, as, as it stands, you might have to think about making up an excuse about how you did win it legit like saying you won it off Fergie at a United match. Or on the horses or sumtin. Them lottos are always for the hospices in anyway so maybe could say that you did win it on the hospice then if a paper person asks you about it and you get mixed-up you can say they just heard you wrong. 

Anyway, don’t forget to write it down cos ye don’t want ta be looking stupit.

And remember that you’ll be needing to be having a tax clearence form still, just cos you did get one doesn’t mean your covered for the hole of your life, I think.

I know all dis cos I was thought it in UCD and London School of Finance (or sometin) and just cos I don’t have me name on a piece of paper from the Chartering Accountants place doesn’t mean I’m not a real accountant, as i understand it, so don’t believe them people who checked it out.

Regards

Mr Patrick B. Ahern

Charthered Accountant’s Clerk

Ireland

PS What’s plans with the buke stuff and the Guvernmint wanting to take the money back off of ye? And have ya heard from Ken Rohan’s lads in the last while?

A long-running but little-covered business story took another step forward yesterday. Two men appeared before the London Magistrate’s Court charged with fraud against AIB and Bank of Scotland PLC. Today’s Irish Times has about 60 words on it in the In Short box in the corner of page 20.

For full details read this in-depth article by Gretchen Friemann from January 18. PropertyPin discussion also.

Achilleas Kallakis and Alexander Williams, formerly known as Stefanos Kollakis and Martin Lewis respectively, were arrested recently following a two-year investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office. Continue reading “Achilleas Kallakis and AIB deals”

Oftentimes posts on the Irish Times Politics blog are about the theatrics, minutiae, of politics. Such theatrics and details, while sometimes making for interesting reads for politics obsessives, are often fairly meaningless in a wider context. Dermot Ahern slagged off who? Which Green minister of state doesn’t get along with which minister? The wider public doesn’t really care.

This post by Harry McGee is about politics and governence in a broader context.

What really scares me is that all the mantras that we all bought into were wrong. Low taxes were a myth. Perhaps low corporation tax was the only exception to that. The only reason we got away with them for so long was because of the property boom and the temporary bonanza in once-off transactional taxes like stamps, VAT, capital gains tax, and capital acquisition tax. As long as we continued to build record numbers of houses and scored obscene loans securitised on obscene valuations of properties we didn’t own, we could continue on our journey into never-never land.

…

What worries me about the situation we are in is the dearth of ideas and the dearth of policies. We’ve had a couple of announcements about job creation that are more fluffy than solid. The green and smart economy initiative looks all very well until you realise that some of the jobs (tidal energy) are still a long way off. Moreover, some of the jobs are merely replacements for existing jobs (alternative energy replacing conventional energy). And then you find out that the Government hasn’t actually put its money where its mouth is in terms of stumping up the money for its ‘ambitious’ (yeah!) national home retrofitting project (the one that’s supposed to provide gazillions of jobs in the construction sector). […]

It’s headed ‘The mess we’re in and the meaningless speculation about a reshuffle’ (though ‘…and the speculation about a meaningless reshuffle’ may describe the content slightly better) and it’s definitely worth a read.

Disclosure: As a freelance one of a number of companies which chips in to pay my bills is Irish Times Ltd.

NOTE 14.11 Feb 26: Spokesman for Batt O’Keeffe has told a national newspaper that the car in the photograph is not his vehicle. Right. Report below remains unedited.

I’ve been doing some research on homelessness in Dublin for a piece I’m planning. The last person I met told me he was born in eastern Europe but moved to the the US in his twenties. He lived there for more than ten years, during which time he lost touch with his family, and moved to Ireland eight years ago. These days he speaks with a Dublin accent.

Until summer 2008 he was the assistant manager of a gastro-pub in one of the more affluent suburbs. Then the owner told him he was cutting staff and, apologetically said the assistant manager’s role would be the first to go. He kept up with the rent for a few months but gradually fell behind. No jobs. He lived on friends’ couches for a while, until he felt like a burden.

Eight months ago he started spending his days in the City, usually between Nassau Street and Templebar. He sleeps in a 24 hour internet cafe because it’s only €5 a night and “there’s no drugs or screamers in them”. He’s in a strange situation with his welfare entitlements; getting rent allowance of €35 a week but unable to the dole. He was due to meet a welfare officer a week after we spoke to sort it out, a meeting he’s been waiting six weeks to happen. The last time he met her, a few months ago, she said she was going to get his paperwork readied, so he was hopeful. Continue reading “Cars and people”