I’ve published these before but now I’ve combined them into year documents and subjected them to an OCR process. These are the Cabinet agendas for all Cabinet meetings from April to December 1998. Cabinet Agendas become available after 10 years, under Section 19 of the FOI Act (unlike in other countries where they can appear as soon as a few days after).
Tag: FOI
Department of the Taoiseach FOI log 2010 – 2011
As part of an ongoing process. This is the FOI request log (the record of what people asked for in their FOI requests)for the Department of the Taoiseach from January 2010 to May 2011 inclusive.
Continue reading “Department of the Taoiseach FOI log 2010 – 2011”
Costs of establishing the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
This is expenditure in relation to the newly created Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, obtained via an FOI request, but sent to me outside of FOI. The question was partly answered through a PQ in June. A story appears in today’s Sunday Times (page 4) by Mark Tighe and myself detailing the response of the Department. Included costs also related to Minister Howlin’s constituency office in Wexford. Among the items purchased:
New Furniture charges supply and delivery of filing cabinets EUR4,781.44
New Tea Station charge from OPW EUR7,638 incl. VAT
Plus EUR4,368 for Plumbing and Electrical Works incl. VAT
Shredder for Constituency office in Wexford. EUR592.9 euros incl.VAT
Fax machine for Constituency office in Wexford. EUR317.02 euros incl.VAT
Dictation Transcriber for Constituency office in Wexford. EUR675.18 euros incl.VAT
Photo Copier for Constituency Office in Wexford EUR3,015 plus VAT = EUR3,648.15
Key cut for Minister’s toilet EUR47.67 Euros incl. VAT.
T.V. in room 1.20 appox EUR289.95 (Invoice not in as yet).
Power points/TV brackets in room 1.20 EUR84 euros plus VAT = EUR95.34
Room 1.23 install two TV Units EUR42 euros plus VAT = EUR47.67
Room 1.19 Hang notice board EUR21 euros plus VAT = EUR23.84
Room 1.19 install digi lock on door EUR204.55 plus VAT = EUR232.16
Room 1.23 Install digi lock on door EUR204.55 plus VAT = EUR232.16
IPhone for Minister Howlin EUR359.37
Sign for Minister’s toilet incl. VAT EUR47.67 Euros.
Hang three notice boards for staff member EUR42 euros plus VAT = EUR47.67.
Elevate desk in room 1.24 EUR84 euros plus VAT = EUR95.34.
Painting and Carpet for Room 1.14 EUR1,367 plus VAT EUR1,551.54
Mobile Galaxy for Special Adviser EUR99.27
Mobile Galaxy for Special Adviser EUR99.27
Mobile for Private Secretary EUR99.27
Mobile Galaxy replacement phone for Special Adviser EUR99.27 (original lost).
6 Nameplates for new Department of PER EUR1,891 plus VAT =2,288.11.
Where does your money go?
Have you ever wondered what happens when you pay taxes? Ever wonder when it disappears from your pay slip, where exactly it goes? I often do, indeed, I believe citizens have a right to see where it all goes.
This handy flowchart from the Department of Finance gives us an idea of exactly what happens our taxes, and indeed the money we borrow. I will make a clearer digital copy soon.
The Spanish property bubble explained
This looks familiar. And their banks haven’t even start to account for the losses.
Justice briefing document – March 2011
I am just catching up with these fascinating documents, each of them released by various Departments. Essentially they are the briefing papers for incoming Ministers so they can understand the structure of their new brief. Unfortunately almost all of the them were uploaded as scanned documents, with little or no ability to search, and heavily redacted in parts (often with no justification).
Here are the Justice briefing papers, including some odd removals of the names of all the senior staff in the Department, but with no reference as to why they were removed (that I can find). I would assume there were security considerations, but this is not mentioned in the redactions table. The document has been OCRd.
SIMI pre-Budget submission 2010
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry lobbied hard for the car scrappage scheme. This is the pre-Budget submission of the society.
Minister for the Environment diary 1998
As part of an ongoing process. The Ministerial diary of the Minister for the Environment Noel Dempsey for 1998 (the FOI Act came into force in April 1998).
Mary O'Dea and the IMF
I couldn’t let this one pass without comment either. Mary ‘shop around’ O’Dea has landed a new job at the IMF, as the Irish Independent reported earlier this month.
O’Dea, currently director general of financial operations at the Regulator, will become the IMF’s alternative executive director this July.
“I’m really looking forward to what I know will be a challenging role, especially at a time when Ireland is itself in an IMF/EU programme,” O’Dea told the Sunday Independent. This paper asked the Regulator two months ago if O’Dea would be taking up a new job in the IMF.
I suppose you could with some jest say that she is getting out of dodge when the going is good. Rumour has it there were no promotion prospects internally at the now expanding Central Bank, so she was bumped off to Washington. Apparently the job is a rather nice 3 years in Washington DC tax-free with expatriate benefits (including private schools).
Oddly though she goes from sitting in our Central Bank/Financial Regulator up to and during IMF intervention, to now sitting on the other side of the table to perhaps help scrutinise our adherence to an IMF deal.
A city as a platform
Rachel Sterne, who had the good fortune to meet in New York last year, speaking about her new role as New York’s Chief Digital Officer. She is formerly of GroundReport and DayLife. I know there are some very good people in Dublin who want to replicate some, if not all, of this.
But how about go wild and make Ireland itself a platform?