Author: Ken Foxe

A senior Department of Justice official warned backlogs in dealing with asylum applications were quickly reaching “unmanageable levels.”

In high-level talks, officials said the huge rise in people claiming international protection was becoming more and more difficult to process.

It said long backlogs were leading to higher costs and longer “periods for which there are entitlements to accommodation and other supports.”

The discussions led to a major increase in funding and staffing as officials were told the system was on the verge of buckling.

An email between the Department of Justice and the Department of Public Expenditure last summer said: “Without further investment, backlogs will reach unmanageable levels in less than a year.

“In practice, we are still working to recruit staff and appoint panel members … but as the year progresses, we will need to move beyond these if we are to meet the scale of the processing challenge.”

The Department of Justice had refused to release the documents on extra money and staff to deal with international protection applications.

However, following an appeal under FOI laws, they have now released some records which detail how the system had seen a 385 percent increase in expected applications between 2022 and 2023.

A business case said the number of claims being made was “outrunning processing capacity” leading to enormous caseloads.

It said investment was now required at “every stage” of the international protection process.

The business case said: “Most applicants are entitled to reception conditions, including accommodation, access to healthcare and education, and a contribution to weekly expenses while their cases are being processed.”

Enterprise Ireland wanted to raise the salary for their chief executive position by over €70,000 but were warned there was little chance of it being approved.

The agency told the Department of Enterprise late last year they were looking to recruit their new boss with a pay package worth €300,000 per year.

In a sanction request last December, they said they were looking to “attract the highest possible calibre of candidates” including CEOs from the private sector.

It said the €300,000 package was not at private sector standards but “would send a strong signal to the candidate market for this role.”

The Department of Enterprise responded to say that a robust business case would be needed for raising the salary up from the agreed level of around €230,000 per year.

Two weeks later, Enterprise Ireland submitted a revised document, this time saying they were looking for a salary of €270,000.

The sanction request said: “The CEO role is critical to the growth of the Irish economy while ensuring the effective leadership, direction, governance, client service delivery and internal transformation of the agency.”

The Department of Enterprise cautioned however there was almost no chance of getting an enhanced pay package approved by the Department of Public Expenditure.

A senior official said it was a “substantial increase in pay” that would mean the CEO was paid more than a department secretary general or the boss of the IDA.

An email in January said: “We envision [the Department of Public Expenditure] will have significant concerns with the proposed salary, particularly, as it could have wider public sector pay implications whereby other non-commercial semi state agencies could cite Enterprise Ireland when making future business cases.

“While the rationale outlined in the business case is well founded and has merit, [we think the department] will be reluctant to sanction the post given the high base salary requested.”

A crucial emergency beacon fell from an Air Corps helicopter during an emergency medical mission, sparking a four-day search before it was eventually discovered by a farm worker in a field.

The automatic deployable emergency locator is meant to be used in the event of a crash to help locate a missing aircraft.

However, during the flight last November, technicians discovered the device had vanished following checks at Custume Barracks in Athlone.

While the AW-139 chopper was airborne, a ‘ping’ from the emergency locator was received by the Irish Coast Guard.

They contacted the Air Corps with a location for the beacon, which they said could be accurate up to six metres but was often less precise in practice.

The helicopter was then cleared to return to headquarters at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel in Dublin.

A new chopper was tasked with the medical emergency while a full inspection of the affected aircraft took place.

A safety investigation report said: “There was no damage to the aircraft except for the ELT [emergency locator transmitter] loss.”

A search party involving seven personnel went to a location in the Newcastle area of Dublin to recover the beacon.

Over a four-day period, aerial searches for the emergency locator took place while a local farmer was contacted to see if it had fallen on his land.

The Air Corps even used drones to fly over ploughed fields with no success.

As night fell on 3 December, the search was called off although efforts to pinpoint the beacon’s location continued at Casement Aerodrome.

The accident report said such devices were “ordinarily painted bright red or orange” to make them easy to find but that this one was painted black “in keeping with the tactical livery of service aircraft.”

The locator was eventually found by accident by a local farmhand the same evening.

A pay hike of over €23,000 was approved for the new chief executive of the Housing Agency after negotiations between two government departments.

The post was meant to be filled with a starting package of €161,593-a-year, the first point on the Assistant Secretary salary scale of the civil service.

However, the Housing Agency said their preferred candidate had been paid a higher salary than that in his previous role in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

They argued that their new CEO Martin Whelan should start at €184,852-per-year, the fourth and final point on the agreed salary scale.

The Department of Public Expenditure said that based on his “substantial knowledge and experience” and his previous salary, they would have “no objection” to the higher package.

Internal records detail how the Housing Agency was left without a CEO when their previous boss Bob Jordan resigned in September last year after a three month notice period.

An email from the Department of Housing said: “Given the short lead in time to Mr. Jordan’s resignation there is an urgency in commencing the recruitment process.

“It may be a case that an interim CEO will be required for a number of months as it is imperative that the work and consequential outputs of the Housing Agency is uninterrupted while the substantive CEO process is ongoing.”

In response, the Department of Public Expenditure said they had no objection to a person being appointed on an acting basis if the need arose.

They said the full-time appointment should be made on the Assistant Secretary level which begins at €161,593 per year and with no perks permitted under government policy.

In November, the Housing Agency said they had found a candidate for the role but submitted a business case to seek a higher starting pay rate.

It said that while Martin Whelan was “enthusiastic about the role,” he had “requested a review of the remuneration package.”

The business case said: “[His] current salary at the NTMA is [redacted] which contrasts with the €163,209 at the first point of the Assistant Secretary grade.

“To address this and to reflect the level of experience and expertise Mr Whelan will bring, the Agency proposes appointing him at the top of the Assistant Secretary scale, €186,701.”

It said a committee led by the chair of the Housing Agency fully supported it and believed it was a “prudent and necessary investment.”

As part of the business case, the Department of Housing said they also agreed that Mr Whelan should start on the higher rate of pay.

There were further discussions with details sought on how many people had applied and how many were considered suitable for the role.

In mid-November, the Department of Housing said they were hoping for a final decision as the matter was now “very urgent and impacting the business of the [Housing] Agency.”

On November 29, an email from the Department of Public Expenditure said they had closely considered the case and the candidate’s previous experience.

“Taking into account his current salary in the NTMA, [we] would have no objection to the Housing Agency negotiating a salary up to the fourth point of the Assistant Secretary scale,” said the message.

Tusla has warned it will blow its budget by nearly €68 million this year as it struggles to deal with huge demand for its services.

The child and family agency warned in an update in May that it had already overspent by €8.9 million but this figure was likely to multiply by the end of the year.

Tusla said its expected overspend for 2025 was €67.8 million, which included €7.6 million for kids in the international protection process and refugees from Ukraine.

In a monthly briefing, the agency said demand for its service was growing especially for residential care, fostering, legal bills, and separated children seeking asylum.

It said they were trying to cut costs by expanding residential provision to replace special emergency arrangements that were a “significant cost driver.”

Tusla said some savings had been made in this area in 2024 through a “strict pricing arrangement” and that this would continue this year.

However, the agency warned that costs remained “unpredictable” due to the inflated cost of placements.

The briefing explained: “As the majority of Tusla’s expenditure is on demand-led arrangements, it is not possible to reduce expenditure materially to meet the budget allocated, without adversely impacting on services for vulnerable children and families.”

It said there was likely to be an overspend of €38.8 million on placements for special care, fostering, and private residential arrangements.

Tusla also detailed the high cost of “out-of-state placements” which involves a small number of children brought to the U.K. when services are not available in Ireland.

The briefing said: “If the agency cannot place children into special care in the existing facilities in 2025, this has the potential to impact on this year’s overspend.”

It said costs for staff travel were also likely to be up by as much as €2.2 million despite on expenses being introduced.

Tusla also detailed a sharp rise in the number of placements for separated children who had applied for international protection in Ireland.

The overspend here was predicted to be around €6.1 million to offer 343 residential placements for vulnerable asylum seekers without parents.

A local authority paid €613,000 for land to secure public access to an idyllic beach saying it would be more expensive to go to court to guarantee a right of way.

In internal discussions, Wicklow County Council said the purchase price was likely to be less than a High Court challenge, which would have no guarantee of success.

The land at Magheramore Beach was owned by Paddy McKillen Jnr’s Oakmount who outbid the local authority for it in 2021 when they paid €700,000.

Mr McKillen Jnr had hoped to develop a €40 million surf school, accommodation, and restaurant there, but the proposal was rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

The 21-acre clifftop site went to auction again this year with a successful bid made by a Chinese investor based in Ireland.

The investor later contacted Wicklow County Council offering them an opportunity to buy the site for €613,000 and “step into the shoes” of the purchaser.

An internal council memo said it would secure permanent public access to the beach and that private ownership could lead to it being blocked off.

It said: “There is a registered private right of way the full length of the access lane to the beach; however, there is no public right of way currently registered for the lane.

“Therefore, a High Court case would have to be taken to secure public access. The legal costs for such a case would come to at least €600,000 with no guarantee that it would be successful.”

The Information Commissioner was forced to use powers under FOI legislation to ensure the Secretary General of the Department of Children and Equality released records.

The move followed a request by Right to Know for copies of a pre-budget submission and other correspondence from the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS).

When the request was made initially, the Department of Children and Equality did not respond.

When we sought internal review, the department did not respond.

Then, when the Information Commissioner (OIC) asked them to issue an “effective position” they still did not bother to respond.

At that stage, the OIC issued a notice under Section 45 of the FOI Act compelling the department to provide the information involved.

The decision said: “Non-responses and delays of the nature experienced in this case serve to undermine the entire FOI process and are unacceptable.

“I should add, however, that the Information Commissioner has since met with the Secretary General and commitments were given to put in place measures to ensure that the Department can, in the future, comply with its obligations under the FOI Act.”

The decision will result in the release of much of the information that was originally sought with some redactions on grounds including commercial sensitivity and security concerns.

P.S. it is now over a year and a half since the request was first made.

The Irish Prison Service pleaded with the Department of Justice to stop scheduling extra court sittings and to consider using cells in garda stations for prisoners.

A message from their director of operations said they had done everything in their power to deal with overcrowding in jails as numbers in custody approached 5,000.

However, the senior official said they had now run out of options and “decisions outside of their control” meant the number of people in prison would continue to rise.

The email was sent last summer as the Irish Prison Service (IPS) struggled with high levels of overcrowding, which have since deteriorated further.

The director of operations – whose name was withheld on security grounds under Freedom of Information laws – said there were “no easy or palatable decisions” left.

He said the UK government had just introduced emergency measures and delayed some court cases due to their own problems with overcrowding.

The message said there were eight steps that needed to be considered or reconsidered as a “matter of urgency” to ease pressure on Irish jails.

This included: “Cancellation of scheduled additional court sittings and a commitment that no further additional sittings will be arranged pending prison capacity being addressed.”

He also called for the decision to appoint or reassign criminal judges to be reconsidered and that cases involving asylum claims be dealt with in “alternative facilities.”

The director of operations said Ireland should also consider delaying court cases and using garda cells to house prisoners.

He added: “[We should] reconsider the proposal to unilaterally increase the rate of remission provided for under current legislation.”

The email said a new policy on bail was needed urgently to ensure people awaiting trial for “non-serious offences” were not sent to jail.

An eighth suggested measure was redacted from the records on the basis it could compromise the security of the prison system.

In a remarkable side note to the decision, the IPS withheld the name of the governor of Mountjoy Prison and their director of operations from the records on security grounds.

The name and photograph of the Mountjoy governor are on their official website; the name and photograph of the director are easily found in public relations photos and other materials from the IPS.

The records below were only released following an appeal to the Information Commissioner.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan was told to emphasise the “nous and soft skills” of gardaí as controversy flared over the deportation of families and young children from Ireland.

In a briefing on the removal of school-going kids to Nigeria, the minister was told that families could have avoided this outcome and returned voluntarily to their country.

A Q&A prepared for Mr O’Callaghan said he was “very conscious” of questions over whether Irish people would be comfortable with the enforced removal of Irish-born children.

When asked about it, a suggested answer for him said: “It’s one of the reasons that we are very lucky to have people in An Garda Siochana with the nous and the soft skills to manage what can be a difficult human experience for all the people concerned.”

The details were contained in a series of briefings for the Justice Minister on how to tackle tricky questions about expensive deportation charter flights to Nigeria and Georgia.

A Q&A sheet prepared for Mr O’Callaghan said he should also be prepared for questions on whether the three charter flights – which together have cost at least €530,000 – were just for “optics.”

On how to respond, the minister was told: “Forced deportations like these are the last option, not the first.”

If asked about whether it was a good use of scarce garda resources, Mr O’Callaghan was advised to emphasise how such operations needed to be done safely and with “respect for the dignity” of those removed.

The Q&A said: “This may well be a difficult experience for the people being deported, which may include families with young children.”

On value for money issues, the minister was given vague talking points that suggested costs were “relatively comparable” to removals on commercial flights.

One suggested answer said: “No specific cost benefit analysis was carried out for the resumption of the use of charters.”

Almost €520,000 has been spent so far this year hiring private jets to bring the Taoiseach and Tánaiste on trips overseas.

The Department of Defence said they had hired air taxis eleven times this year, including two trips for President Michael D Higgins.

They only provided details on the nine government flights however, with an average cost of almost €58,000 for each of the nine journeys.

The outlay began in January when just over €78,000 was paid for a jet to take Taoiseach Micheal Martin and a five-strong delegation to Katowice in Poland.

That same-day flight included 314 minutes on board, with an average per hour flying cost of around €14,900.

In February, three air taxis were chartered for the Taoiseach, the first one to Brussels early that month costing just under €42,000.

On February 9, another jet took the Taoiseach and six officials first to Brussels, then to Paris at a cost of €43,700.

Another flight in mid-February which travelled from the aerodrome at Baldonnel to Munich, then to Cork and back to Baldonnel proved the most expensive this year.

The final bill for that trip – 289 minutes flying time in all – came to almost €82,000, according to records released under FOI.

There were a further three air taxis for the Taoiseach in March, the first of which to Liverpool and Brussels cost around €67,500.

A trip in mid-March to Brussels with a stop-off in Cork on the way back cost just under €55,000, the Department of Defence said.

A final flight that month to Paris cost nearly €40,500 for the Taoiseach and a delegation of five people.

In April, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste Simon Harris travelled together to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.

That trip, which included 502 minutes of flight time, cost €71,797.

A second jet was also hired for President Michael D Higgins, but the Department of Defence refused to provide details of how much that cost.

Under Freedom of Information laws, all records relating to the President are exempt from release, a transparency gap that is likely to come into focus again during the forthcoming election.