Department believed “private papers” law should never have been applied to political expenses
The plot thickens in the saga of the “private papers” and how a law meant to protect sensitive communications has been cynically misused to keep pol...
Tag: FOI
Private Papers update: Information Commissioner refuses to re-examine his decision on keeping political expenses secret
The saga of politicians, their expenses and whether they should be considered “private papers” has been rumbling on for almost two years now. Unfort...
“Hardship” payments of almost €1 million for Irish diplomats living in cities like Beijing, Buenos Aires, and Bucharest
IRISH diplomats have shared almost one million euro in bonus payments because they are based at so-called “hardship” postings in foreign cities incl...
Department of Justice looked for €65 million extra for gardai including a million-a-day for Joe Biden visit
The Department of Justice asked for €5 million to cover the cost of security for the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden to Ireland. The money was sought in a ...
‘Ghost worker’ paid more than €90,000 on government-funded scheme he was not even eligible for
A TAXPAYER-funded jobs initiative paid out in excess of €90,000 to a ‘ghost worker’ who did not qualify to be on the scheme and never actually worke...
Whistleblower warned that abuse of inheritance tax loophole used by the wealthy was about to take off
The Department of Finance failed to act on warnings from a whistle-blower in the “wealth management” industry who told them a loophole in inheritanc...
How the Freedom of Information Act can help save money for the taxpayer – Leo Varadkar’s repayment of €1,970.40
Some of you may remember a story I did last year about how Minister Leo Varadkar had made a double claim for expenses at a higher mileage rate than he was allow...
The scourge of politicians and their “private papers”
ONE of the most common criticisms politicians have of journalists is that they are obsessed with TD’s expenses and government waste. Quite aside from the ...
Irish politicians introduced a “new protection” which stops their expense claims being made public
First, the bad news. An appeal to get access to the invoices and receipts used by TDs and Senators for claiming their expenses has, perhaps unsurprisingly, been...
Five reasons (and counting) on why Ireland’s political expenses system is in dire need of reform
The political expenses regime in Northern Ireland has been the subject of a report by an independent review body. Some of the planned allowances would bring a t...
