TheStory.ie – Page 57 – Access to Information Updates

Irish Water’s parent company Ervia & negotiations for a new chief executive

IRISH Water’s parent company Ervia looked for a €250,000 salary for its incoming chief executive despite being told the pay for the position had to be €30,000 less.

The appointment of former Bórd Na Móna executive Mike Quinn was eventually agreed with a pay package of €225,000, a hike of €5,000 on what had originally been agreed on by government.

Departmental documents obtained under FOI by Right to Know also show how Ervia, which runs Irish Water along with gas networks in Ireland, was having serious difficulties in finding a candidate for the job.

Internal records from the Department of Communications explain that 187 different candidates had been identified for the job originally.

However, many had withdrawn “due to the complex nature of the job” and what was described as a “significant gap in salary expectations”.

Oireachtas 2016 annual accounts

These are the recently published annual accounts of the Oireachtas. For the record.

Reports on internal audit for Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan

GARDAI have been overpaid by almost €2 million in pay and pensions but the force does not have enough staff assigned to get the money back.

An internal audit report has said that chunks of the money will end up being written off because of difficulties in recovering it.

The report on financial controls, prepared for Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan and obtained under FOI by Right to Know, also said there were not enough staff to recoup the money.

At one stage, not a single person was responsible for collecting the significant amount of money owed.

Read the documents below.

FOI documents for Social Protection ‘cheats us all’ campaign

Below is the full FOI release in relation to Ken’s story in TheJournal.

CONCERNS WERE RAISED in the Department of Social Protection over calling people “cheats” as part of the controversial advertising campaign on social welfare launched by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar while he was Minister for Social Protection.

The ‘Welfare Cheats Cheat Us All’ campaign was launched in April and caused considerable debate over highlighting welfare fraud so prominently and for asking people to anonymously report their neighbours.
Internal departmental emails obtained by TheJournal.ie reveal that with just weeks to go, the department considered changing the campaign title to something a little less forceful.

Read the 465 page document here:

Robert Watt Oireachtas committee briefing documents

Below are copies of briefing notes prepared for Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Robert Watt ahead of his appearance at Committee on Budgetary Oversight in early April 2017. The documents contain summary information of Government expenditure.

Eight Garda audits

Some years ago we sought the following audit reports from An Garda Siochana:

Audit report NBCI & Appendix Control Failures NBCI
Expenditure Review 2013 Vehicle Maintenance Contract
Audit Report Mayo & Appendix Control Failures Mayo
Review Audit report Mayo
Audit of Procurement
Audit Regional Offices & Appendix Control Failures
Audit Report FCPO
Review of CCTV Systems

Many of the documents were refused and we ultimately appealed to the Information Commissioner. In February he found largely in our favour.

Below are the audits, as released.

Judgment in MCENR vs Information Commissioner

Below is the judgment delivered today in MCENR vs Information Commissioner (with eNet and Gavin Sheridan as notice parties). Some time ago we sought the contract between the Department of Communications and eNet, in relation to the managing and promotion of the Metropolitan Area Networks built around the country. The department refused our request, so we appealed ultimately to the Information Commissioner, who ultimately found in our favour (worth reading the whole decision)

The Department disagreed with the decision and so appealed to the High Court, arguing that the Commissioner had erred in law by ordering the release of the bulk of the contract.

There was a two day hearing earlier this year. I was represented by FPLogue Solicitors and John Kenny BL.

The judge dismissed the appeal, as outlined here:

Examination by Committee of Public Accounts of NAMA’s Sale of Project Eagle

For the record:

Clarion report on Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI)

For the record, here is the Clarion audit on QQI, as reported recently by the Sunday Times:

A quango that regulates further and higher education qualifications has an organisational structure that is “not fit for purpose”, abnormal levels of conflict and distrust among staff, and a management team that is lacking in expertise, an audit has found.

The highly critical assessment of Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) was made by Clarion, a consultancy firm commissioned by the Department of Education to review the regulator.

Thanks to the Sunday Times for sharing the document.

http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3516009-Clarion-Organisational-Review-of-QQI-Final.html

Minister for Finance Diary 2016

Part of an ongoing process. This is the diary of Finance Minister Michael Noonan for the year 2016. We are also pleased to see the Department has started to routinely publish the Minister’s diary. This brings us to 19 full year of Ministerial diaries, the largest resource available.

Previously: