The Moriarty Tribunal is investigating whether Michael Lowry, the then communications minister, interfered with the process to award Denis O'Brien's Esat consortium a mobile phone license in 1995/96.
A negative finding against the state, Lowry and O'Brien means the state could be liable to pay out huge damages to the Persona consortium which lost out to Esat. It would also be a huge dent in the reputations of the Irish civil service, Lowry and O'Brien.
The Moriarty Tribunal issued preliminary findings last November.
The tribunal wants to keep these findings secret for now so it has threatened injunctions against newspapers who publish any of these findings.
This has lead to the farcical situation where those affected by the findings are up in Dublin Castle at the moment trying to argue their case and get Moriarty to change his mind while not being allowed to explicitly refer to what they are disagreeing with.
These are public hearings but the public is the only one not in the know. Still, it doesn't take a genius to decrypt questions like this one asked of Martin Brennan, the civil servant in charge of the award process back in 1995.
"Does it alarm you or surprise you that there might be a suggestion out there somewhere that you had in some way obscured details or concealed details or misrepresented matters to your Minister?"
The minister in question is Alan Dukes, who replaced Lowry in 1996. The "somewhere" that alleges Brennan concealed details from Dukes is clearly Moriarty's preliminary findings. More background on the Dukes letter here.
For further look at what's behind the questions at the public hearings see here.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Going after the Bulgarians and Romanians
From an FOI document we discovered that Mary Coughlan's Enterprise, Trade and Employment department has ordered a crack-down on Bulgarian and Romanian workers in Ireland who don't have work permits.
Ger Deering, from the National Employment Rights Authority (Nera), told me there may be in excess of 5,000 workers from these two countries who don't have the right to work in Ireland.
The maximum possible fine for employing a person without the right permit is €250,000. That legislation has been on the books since 2003 but it's only now that Nera inspectors will be given the authority to take prosecutions for these offences.
The figures - since 2007 Romanians have been issued 22,414 PPS numbers but only 281 work permits - aren't as clear as you might think. Just because a Romanian has a PPS number doesn't mean they are working.
Romanians are entitled to work here without a permit if they are self employed or if they are students. If they were here pre-2007 and working they are also OK. If they've worked under a permit for 12 months in Ireland they are then free to work without one.
Understandably the targeting of the Romanians and Bulgarians hasn't gone down well in those communities. While they are part of the EU they don't have the same entitlements as other EU citizens. When you see what's happened in Belfast they've every right to feel aggrieved about how they are treated on this island.
It seems this planned crackdown on "illegal workers" is part of a general tightening up of work permit rules and their enforcement in the Republic. While immigration wasn't a big political issue during the Celtic Tiger years, when there were plenty of jobs, it's likely to be a controversial area as unemployment continues to rise.
Ger Deering, from the National Employment Rights Authority (Nera), told me there may be in excess of 5,000 workers from these two countries who don't have the right to work in Ireland.
The maximum possible fine for employing a person without the right permit is €250,000. That legislation has been on the books since 2003 but it's only now that Nera inspectors will be given the authority to take prosecutions for these offences.
The figures - since 2007 Romanians have been issued 22,414 PPS numbers but only 281 work permits - aren't as clear as you might think. Just because a Romanian has a PPS number doesn't mean they are working.
Romanians are entitled to work here without a permit if they are self employed or if they are students. If they were here pre-2007 and working they are also OK. If they've worked under a permit for 12 months in Ireland they are then free to work without one.
Understandably the targeting of the Romanians and Bulgarians hasn't gone down well in those communities. While they are part of the EU they don't have the same entitlements as other EU citizens. When you see what's happened in Belfast they've every right to feel aggrieved about how they are treated on this island.
It seems this planned crackdown on "illegal workers" is part of a general tightening up of work permit rules and their enforcement in the Republic. While immigration wasn't a big political issue during the Celtic Tiger years, when there were plenty of jobs, it's likely to be a controversial area as unemployment continues to rise.
Human Trafficking in Ireland
Last year 22 children who arrived at Irish ports or airports unaccompanied by adults were taken in to care by the HSE but later vanished. This was the lowest number to go missing in 10 years. We've just passed the half way point of 2009 and already 23 foreign children are missing from HSE accommodation.
All of those missing this year are Chinese according to the HSE. You can see some of them on the missing kids website.
In a Dail debate earlier this Barry Andrews, the Minister for Children, earlier the number going missing had fallen "dramatically" but this seems to have been reversed in the first six months of the year.
Some of the children who go missing are reuniting with family members who may be in Ireland illegally. Others, however, have been tracked down and found to be in abusive situations.
Gardai are very frustrated that hours or days after they place children in to HSE care those kids "vanish" and some, at least, are back in the hands of the traffickers. Until the HSE provide these children with the protection afforded to Irish-born children then Ireland will continue to be a soft spot for those trafficking children in to Europe.
All of those missing this year are Chinese according to the HSE. You can see some of them on the missing kids website.
In a Dail debate earlier this Barry Andrews, the Minister for Children, earlier the number going missing had fallen "dramatically" but this seems to have been reversed in the first six months of the year.
Some of the children who go missing are reuniting with family members who may be in Ireland illegally. Others, however, have been tracked down and found to be in abusive situations.
Gardai are very frustrated that hours or days after they place children in to HSE care those kids "vanish" and some, at least, are back in the hands of the traffickers. Until the HSE provide these children with the protection afforded to Irish-born children then Ireland will continue to be a soft spot for those trafficking children in to Europe.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Irish involvement in the Bolivian plot
As the Bolivian police continue their investigation in to the group that are accused of planning to assassinate President Evo Morales we are learning of more Irish connections than just Tipperary man Michael Dwyer.
There are two strands to the Bolivian investigation. One is looking at what happened in the Police raid when Dwyer, Eduardo Rosza Flores and Árpád Magyarosi were shot dead in their underwear while two others were arrested. The other investigation is trying to find out who was funding this group and what their plans were.
From the latter investigation we had already learned that Dwyer had been accompanied by three Irish-based eastern Europeans when he travelled to Bolivia in late 2008. One of these men is Tibor Revesz, who like the other two, worked for I-RMS, the security company which protects Shell's gas project in Mayo.
Last week we learned that two Irish passport holders had applied to work for this "private army" according to Bolivian security sources. Their CVs were found among those of Revesz's and others on a laptop belonging to Rosza Flores.
One of those men whose CV was found is a serving member of the Irish reserve defence forces who currently works for a private security firm in Iraq.
The other man is Erik Imre Benedek. Although Benedek is Hungarian he is listed as having an Irish passport. The Department of Foreign Affairs refused to confirm if this Irish passport listed on the laptop is genuine. Interestingly Benedek also listed I-RMS as his former employer in his CV.
It's still not clear how Dwyer and these other people came to be involved with Rosza Flores and whatever he was planning in Bolivia. What Revesz, Benedek and others can tell us should be revealing.
I spoke to Benedek last weekend and he confirmed he knew Dwyer but he was not willing to talk further.
Hopefully more on this next week...
There are two strands to the Bolivian investigation. One is looking at what happened in the Police raid when Dwyer, Eduardo Rosza Flores and Árpád Magyarosi were shot dead in their underwear while two others were arrested. The other investigation is trying to find out who was funding this group and what their plans were.
From the latter investigation we had already learned that Dwyer had been accompanied by three Irish-based eastern Europeans when he travelled to Bolivia in late 2008. One of these men is Tibor Revesz, who like the other two, worked for I-RMS, the security company which protects Shell's gas project in Mayo.
Last week we learned that two Irish passport holders had applied to work for this "private army" according to Bolivian security sources. Their CVs were found among those of Revesz's and others on a laptop belonging to Rosza Flores.
One of those men whose CV was found is a serving member of the Irish reserve defence forces who currently works for a private security firm in Iraq.
The other man is Erik Imre Benedek. Although Benedek is Hungarian he is listed as having an Irish passport. The Department of Foreign Affairs refused to confirm if this Irish passport listed on the laptop is genuine. Interestingly Benedek also listed I-RMS as his former employer in his CV.
It's still not clear how Dwyer and these other people came to be involved with Rosza Flores and whatever he was planning in Bolivia. What Revesz, Benedek and others can tell us should be revealing.
I spoke to Benedek last weekend and he confirmed he knew Dwyer but he was not willing to talk further.
Hopefully more on this next week...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Where there's a will...
A nurse I know was telling me she'd seen many a family squabbling at the bedside of an elderly family member over what they would be left in the old person's will.
It's obviously a sensitive and potentially messy subject.
Last week we discovered Reverend Kevin Dalton, a church of Ireland rector, got caught up in a dispute over the will of an elderly patient in Leopardstown Park Hospital. Dalton's wife, accompanied by a solicitor, had gone to the elderly patient's bedside with a will that would have given her 20% of an estate valued at up to €1.5m.
Dalton's wife was a long time friend of the patient and she says it was the elderly woman's idea to have the will changed. The problem for the Rev Dalton is that he was chairman of the board of the hospital and there are rules governing patients' legal affairs and procedures for the changing of wills.
Those rules and procedures weren't followed here and the Rev Dalton resigned from the board at Christmas.
Full story here.
It's obviously a sensitive and potentially messy subject.
Last week we discovered Reverend Kevin Dalton, a church of Ireland rector, got caught up in a dispute over the will of an elderly patient in Leopardstown Park Hospital. Dalton's wife, accompanied by a solicitor, had gone to the elderly patient's bedside with a will that would have given her 20% of an estate valued at up to €1.5m.
Dalton's wife was a long time friend of the patient and she says it was the elderly woman's idea to have the will changed. The problem for the Rev Dalton is that he was chairman of the board of the hospital and there are rules governing patients' legal affairs and procedures for the changing of wills.
Those rules and procedures weren't followed here and the Rev Dalton resigned from the board at Christmas.
Full story here.
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