Oireachtas spending – line by line

Background:

Over 12 months ago I started a process of engagement with the Oireachtas in order to try and more fully understand how our parliament spends public money. The Oireachtas does publish some information on where it spends money, but I wanted to understand it in much greater detail.

The start of this process was an attempt to obtain all expenses claims by all TDs and Senators since 1998. This process was spread out over a number of months – and the processing of large amounts of data. Some information was released in PDF format (which requires conversion to spreadsheets) and the rest was provided in paper (most of which is still stacked in my living room waiting to be scanned and converted).

The second part of the process was an attempt to obtain the expenditure of the Oireachtas when it arose directly from the activities of Members. This would include things like trips abroad where the Oireachtas pays directly for flights for Members, rather than an expense being claimed. This would give a fuller picture to the public of exactly how much TDs and Senators cost – precisely, as broken down by Member.

The third part of the process was an attempt to understand the totality of Oireachtas expenditure. Every three years the Oireachtas spends about €393 million to run itself. I wanted to start with this figure, and work backwards. I wanted to know exactly how this figure was arrived at, and where every cent was spent.

This was not an easy task. And it is still underway. But I have had some success.

The first stage was to understand sufficiently how the record was held. As has previously been mentioned the Oireachtas uses a financial management system called Integra. Portions of the expenses data I had received already had been exported from Integra into tables. These tables were then printed. Then photocopied. Then scanned. Then sent to me as PDFs. But obviously there was a database sitting behind it, a database that existed since at least 2005.

Integra doesn’t just hold the expenses and salaries of politicians. It holds a record of the entire expenditure of the Oireachtas. Every time the Oireachtas has an incoming or an outgoing, it is recorded. What I sought was for all of this data to be exported to a spreadsheet, and released.

The Oireachtas refused. As well as arguing that the request was voluminous in nature, they decided that my request was: “in accordance with section 10(1)(e) and in light of the fact that the information has already been provided to you, the request is considered an abuse of the right of access and to be frivolous and vexatious.” They also argued that the information was “trade secrets of a person other than the requester and (ii) scientific or technical information as described in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of section 27 of the Freedom of Information Act 1997.”

The record contains 1.35 million line items (rows). They argued that since every line would have to be checked, this would impose an unreasonable burden on the Oireachtas.

However I appealed this decision to the Information Commissioner. It was agreed via the Information Commissioner that I would limit the scope of my request first by year (2009 first) and then by subhead (the Oireachtas breaks down its budget by what are called subheads, or categories of expenditure). I was given a list of subheads and from that list I chose three subheads. These subheads contain line by line expenditure, detailing in never before seen detail how a public body spends money.

This is significant in a number of respects. Firstly, it is the first time that a database (or at least portions of one) have been released that comprehensively details how public money is spent – and not just the expense claims of public bodies as I have published here before. Instead we see how much is spent on contractors, services, consultants – and not just in summary tables, but in actual records of a database – row by row, who got what, for what, and for how much.

There is a larger point here. Upon release of the data, I requested that the Oireachtas pro-actively released all other subheads and data. Either that, or I will spend the next two years sending a request every month for another three subheads, and so on, until I have all records. They refused, saying it would take too much resources.

I believe this information is sitting on servers in all government bodies. It is our information. It records in fine detail how every cent of public money is spent. Why is it sitting on servers, but not on the internet for all of us to see, and scrutinise? Why can the information not be published as it is recorded, in real time? Why keep a record of it at all, if it is not going to be open to public scrutiny? Why do we have 19th century style government auditors who look at the figures on our behalf, and then give us summaries of the data once a year? Why is all the data not just published day by day, week by week?

As the Oireachtas has refused to release any more data voluntarily, I will instead be forced to request data on your behalf, month by month. So you can see where your money goes.

The total amount of 2009 spending revealed by the data is €38,042,971.24.

Here is the 2009 data:

1(a) Salaries, wages and allowances in respect of members of staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas €26,075,956.30
1(c) Incidental expenses €5,686,779.24
6(a) Dáil Éireann (Other allowances and expense of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas) € 6,280,235.70

To download the spreadsheets click File -> Download As -> Choose your format

What does the data contain?

The data contains significant detail on how our parliament spends money, including:

The titles of books purchased for the Dail Library and much they cost.
The individual expenditure for local advertising for TDs in local newspapers, line by line
Details on how much the Oireachtas spends on things from window cleaning to toilet paper
A breakdown of PR consultancy costs, including the names of PR companies employed and how much was charged
A breakdown of companies who have provided services within the subheads given
Expenditure on envelopes and postage
Expenditure on photography services
Expenditure on websites for TDs

There’s tonnes of details (and no doubt lots of interesting stories) in the data. Feel free to comment on what you find here.

Oireachtas spending – breaking it down. Part 1

One of the first names to stand out for me in the Oireachtas database was this:

45544 Stephen Kearon 300200061626018 – OSS Min SA RSA – FullyVouch(A) IT services Web Hosting €3250 23/04/2009

Of course I recognised the name – after many hearty disagreements on Twitter with @skearon. Stephen is a former adviser to Dick Roche, from Wicklow, and I think it would be fair to describe him as a strong Fianna Fail member. In 2009, €3,250 was charged to the Oireachtas for “IT services Web Hosting” in relation to a Minister. I wonder which Minister that could be? As someone who hosts websites myself, €3,250 seems a bit steep.

Bailout FOIs – HM Treasury

Last month I sent an FOI request to Her Majesty’s Treasury seeking details of communications between them and the Irish Department of Finance during a precise date range surrounding the financial crisis. As I expected, the request has been refused on several grounds. I plan on appealing, mainly because I believe some of the communications would not be subject to the exemptions applied.

Here is the reply from HM Treasury:


Cowen's meetings and Anglo problems

Right at the end of Leader’s questions last week, and with reference to his meetings in 2008, Mr Cowen said:

That would have been organised by Fintan Drury who organised the golf outing. It was about being able to sit down with people at the end of the day and having a chat about the economy. The Deputy will recall we had a mini-budget and saw recession on the horizon and a big slowdown in our economy. As Taoiseach, I was there chatting to see if there were ideas and to find out other people’s views of things and to see if things could be done which might be helpful. As the Deputy will know, those people would have some views on that. That was basically the total sum of it.

Except the ‘mini-budget’ was not held until April the following year, almost 10 months after the golf outing. I also don’t recall much in the way of pre-recession planning in the works by FF in the summer of 2008. As I recall the party was still getting over the euphoria of a new party leader and new Taoiseach. The way the Taoiseach talks about it here, one would be left with the impression that the mini-budget had happened, the economy was spiraling out of control, and he was seeking the views of some businessmen/bankers on what to do.

But the meeting took place before Lehman, before FF realised the extent of the crisis and before the recession took hold. This means that either Brian Cowen doesn’t remember the meeting, or else when it took place. Or he is just spoofing.

In relation to the NTMA, Vincent Browne also raises some interesting questions in relation to Michael Somers’ interview last week:

So now we know the following:

In 2007 the NTMA came under considerable pressure from the Department of Finance to deposit more funds with the banks;

So severe was the pressure that the then head of the NTMA, Michael Somers, sought legal advice on what he should do;

The NTMA did not buckle under the pressure;

The bank, perhaps the only bank that needed funds urgently in 2007, was Anglo Irish Bank;

David Drumm, then CEO of Anglo Irish Bank says Brian Cowen had been asked to help with the NTMA and had expressed annoyance about the obduracy of the NTMA;

Brian Cowen denies he made any representations on behalf of Anglo.

Interesting.

However this document has also been doing the rounds lately, as released to the Public Accounts Committee (worth a detailed look):


And just one more thing. If as early as 2007 Anglo Irish Bank was having liquidity problems, as now seems clear, and if the NTMA refused to increase deposits at the bank, who then, provided liquidity? (most likely around the time of the Northern Rock crisis, a bank with similar issues to Anglo).

Perhaps a clue lies with our own Central Bank. For around that time, the ‘Other Assets; of the Central Bank increased dramatically for a period of three months. Here’s a graph of the those assets from September 2006 (around the property peak) to late 2008 (pre Anglo nationalisation but post guarantee)

Interesting. In July 2007 the other assets stood at €3.8bn. By late September they had almost quadrupled to €12.3bn. Just what was this for? At the time this was a record for the Central Bank, a record that in recent months has long since passed (other assets in December stood at €51bn).

Northern Rock was forced to go to the Bank of England for funding on September 14, 2007. Was Anglo also receiving funding, and was a quiet bank run underway? How aware was the Department of Finance and the government of problems at Anglo in September 2007 and the months that followed?

Minister for Finance diary 2005, 2006

As part of an ongoing process. The appointments diary of then Minister for Finance Brian Cowen for 2005 and 2006:

2005:


2006:


Finance minister diaries 2007, 2008

It seems pretty relevant at the moment who was meeting who, but then it is always relevant. At the very least these diaries should be published daily as a matter of course by all departments.

I also have 2005 and 2006 finance diaries in hard copy and hope to scan these soon. For now here are the appointments diaries of the Minister for Finance for 2007 and 2008. Note that Brian Lenihan became Finance Minister in May 2008.

2007:


2008:


Taoiseach diaries – almost there

Progress is slow, but I am getting there. Taoiseach diaries for 2003 and 2008/2009/2010 are still needed (although portions of 2008 and 2009 are available). I will be seeking the remainder shortly. Please remember that all of these documents were delivererd in hard copy and all pages had to be scanned.

Here are the assembled diaries thus far:

1998:



Continue reading “Taoiseach diaries – almost there”

Cowen's golf trip

July 28, 2008: Druid’s Glen

Taoiseach Brian Cowen
Sean FitzPatrick (Anglo)
Fintan Drury (Anglo)
Gary McGann (Anglo)
Alan Gray (Appointed in 2007 by Cowen as a Director of the Central Bank/Financial Regulator)

Hmm. Gary McGann certainly rings a bell. Remember he resigned from the board of Anglo just prior to nationalisation.

On January 21, 2002, Mr McGann was appointed to the board of Anglo Irish Bank, along with Tom Browne (then head of its wealth management division).

In 2007, Mr McGann was named as a shareholder in ISTC, the group that collapsed that year with debts of €871m. The group was started in 2005 by former Anglo executive Tiernan O’Mahony. Denis O’Brien and Sean Quinn were also said to be shareholders.

Mr McGann, a past president of IBEC, was also involved in a company called Tysan Invesments with John Kerry Keane: A private individual who is active in the media sector, Paul Coulson: Chairman of Ardagh plc and a director of other companies, Denis O’Brien: A private individual who is active in the media sector, Lindat Limited: The owner of this company is the Chairman of Harcourt Holdings which is active in the property sector in Ireland, Britain and overseas, Lar Bradshaw: Chairman of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and amongst other things, serves as a non-executive director of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc, Sean Fitzpatrick: A non-executive chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc and serves as a non-executive director of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, Greencore plc, and Aer Lingus, Paddy Wright: Chairman of the RTE Authority and a non- executive director of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc, Sean Melly: An entrepreneur who is active in the media sector, Pat Gunne: Chief Executive of Gunne Group which is active in the property sector in Ireland, Longstone Estates Limited: A property holding company owned by a family Trust, Lochlann Quinn: Deputy Chairman of Glen Dimplex which is active in the manufacture of electric heating and domestic appliances. Additionally, he is a Director of The Merrion Hotel. Tysan was involved in the purchase of the Atrium Microsoft building in Dublin. Mr McGann became the chairman of the DAA upon its creation in 2004.

Of course Fintan Drury was also appointed by Noel Dempsey to the RTE authority. Paddy Wright (deceased) was a former president of the Jefferson Smurfit group and a former chairman of the RTÉ Authority. Mr Wright had also been chairman of Bord Iascaigh Mhara, deputy chairman of Aer Lingus and president of the employer’s body, the CII. He was also director of Anglo-Irish Bank. Lochlainn Quinn is Labour TD Ruairi Quinn’s brother, and a cousin of Superquinn founder Fergal Quinn (who himself declared a registered interested in Anglo related companies, though later said this was a mistake). The list goes on, and on…

So are we to believe that three directors or former directors of Anglo Irish Bank, who between them have connections to Sean Quinn, RTE, the DDDA, the DAA, Aer Lingus and IBEC, and a member of the board of the Financial Regulator, played golf with the leader of the country in July 2008, and that Anglo Irish Bank was never discussed?