Category: Civil Service

Tammany Hall passports – Update (2)

I spoke with an official from the Dept of Foreign Affairs yesterday for an update on the review being conducted by the Dept concerning the special passport service provided by TDs (See here).

He didn’t have the terms of reference to hand but informed me that the review had commenced and was expected to be completed before the summer recess.

Essentially, TDs and Senators will be asked for their views on the service and a check is to be made on other jurisdictions to see if a similar service is provided.

Special passport service to be reviewed

I sent off another email today to the Department of Foreign Affairs asking if they could provide me with a time frame in which I could expect a reply to my original email sent on the 3rd February last regarding the special passport service provided by TDs.

In my original email I asked a series of questions two of which were:

What is the specific reason for this service given that the Passport Office already provides a very efficient service that covers all eventualities?

Given that this special system provided by TDs is a legitimate service involving State employees and State funds it must obviously be open to all citizens. Could you direct me to a source of official information on the service?

I also phoned the Passport Office again to enquire if there was any reply forthcoming to other questions I had asked earlier this month regarding this special service. No answers yet but I was assured that my queries were being dealt with.

Later in the day I spoke to Fine Gael TD, David Stanton, who has tabled a number of questions for me on the matter in the Dail. He informed me that the Minister for Foreign Affairs was conducting a review of the facility including whether it should be continued.

According to a report in today’s Irish Times (Sub. Required) backbench TDs from all parties are expected to oppose any attempt to end the special service.

Fine Gael TD Michael Ring is quoted as saying;

“It is a good system. It doesn’t do any harm. We are not doing any harm, and we are helping.”

I strongly disagree. The service is nothing more than a Tammany Hall scam whereby TDs provide a favour for their constituents in return for a vote.

The service should be discontinued but if it is to remain then details should be available to all citizens on the Passports Office website.

HSE bureaucrats should be locked up

I wrote recently that the Health Executive Service (HSE) was a diseased, out of control monster created by and strongly defended by cowardly and incompetent politicians. My analysis has been confirmed by the incredible events of recent days.

A democratically elected public representative has been banned from entering a hospital by an anonymous HSE manager and that same organisation has launched a campaign, with the full support of cowardly politicians, to silence a media outlet that dares to question its activities.

Labour TD Joe Costello is an extremely rare creature, an Irish politician who actually possesses and acts on conviction. Every Saturday for the last four years he and a group of supporters have maintained a presence outside the Mater Hospital in Dublin in protest over the Third World conditions in the A & E Department (Drivetime, 7th item).

As part of his protest Deputy Costello visits the staff and patients of the A & E Department to monitor and inform himself on the situation. This is a perfectly legitimate and necessary activity in a functional democracy but last week Deputy Costello was officially barred from entering the hospital.

This is an extremely serious situation – a lawfully elected public representative has been barred from associating with a group of citizens by a faceless and unaccountable bureaucrat.

In addition to preventing elected representatives from serving the people the HSE has also become involved in attempts to control the media and, incredibly, telling politicians what media outlet they can or cannot speak on.

The HSE has threatened to withdraw advertising from Newstalk 106 because of the station’s policy of ringing the HSE directly to address what the station describes as “horror stories from victims of health service mismanagement, contempt and incompetence.”(Irish Examiner).

A spokesperson for the HSE said:

“In light of staff members being intimidated, bullied and humiliated by Newstalk live on air we are withdrawing co-operation by not providing ministers, press releases and advertising. We believe this is all down to ratings.”

‘We are not providing ministers’??? The bureaucrats in the HSE have decided that they have the power to control the actions of politicians.

‘We believe this is all down to ratings.’??? Since when did faceless bureaucrats, allegedly in charge of health, give themselves the power to sit in judgement on the activities of media outlets?

In reality, their arrogant confidence is justified. It seems that Government ministers are only too happy to allow these faceless and arrogant bureaucrats to trample all over the most basic principles of a functional democracy. The undemocratic imposition of draconian restrictions on free speech means that these cowardly politicians don’t have to answer questions themselves.

While Deputy Costello’s actions deserve the highest praise his handling of the matter requires some comment. He was approached by an unidentified and hostile woman who told him he shouldn’t be in the hospital. He didn’t demand identification and quietly left the hospital.

Apparently, this woman was head of operations at the hospital or represented that office. He has said he intends continuing his protest and has written to head of HSE, Prof. Drumm, expressing his disappointment with the attitude of head of operations at the hospital.

Here’s what should have happened. Deputy Costello should have demanded that this hostile woman identify herself. He should have refused to leave the hospital until he was good and ready.

He should have informed this hostile bureaucrat that as an elected representative of the people he far outranks any official or public servant.

He should not be timidly writing to Prof. Drumm expressing disappointment, he should be writing in passionate anger outlining to the Prof. his plans for dramatically stepping up his campaign outside the hospital.

In effect, the Irish health service has been taken over by unaccountable arrogant and grossly overpaid bureaucrats and public relations companies. Politicians have lost control; they are literally standing outside hospitals waiting for permission to enter.

This grotesque and bizarre state of affairs is bordering on how things are done in Zimbabwe and is resulting in massive suffering for Irish people, in some case even death.

It is long past time that these people were taken out and if necessary put in handcuffs.

Copy to:

All political parties
HSE
Newstalk 106
Joe Costello TD
Mary Harney
Prof. Drumm

Passport letters

Reply to passport letter in Irish Times.

Madam,

Anthony Sheridan (February 7th) laments that our parliamentarians operate a fast-track system for passport applications to do favours for constituents. But the sad reality is that last year they processed only 6,200 applications in total – an average of 27 passports each or 2.5 per month.

Meanwhile, according to radio advertisements, TV licence inspectors carry out 18,000 raids every month and the Automobile Association rescues 16,000 stranded motorists.

Our parliamentarians are paid huge salaries but in terms of productivity and competitiveness, they fall well behind the standards set in the current National Agreement. The passport rescue service should be handed over to an efficient, rapid-response unit like the AA, or a “you-can’t-fool-us” outfit like the TV inspectors.

Our TDs could then focus on really important tasks such as going to funerals, sending out free Christmas cards and flying off on fact-finding missions to far-flung exotic locations. Parliamentary democracy, Irish-style, deserves no less.

Yours, etc,
JERRY CROWLEY

Tammany Hall passports – Update

I phoned the Passports Office today to enquire about an email I had sent some days ago in relation to the special passport scheme operated by TDs.

A very professional lady accepted my point that perhaps details of the service should be published on the Passports Office website so that all citizens can avail of the service. She also assured me that a reply to my email was forthcoming.

I’m still waiting for word from David Stanton on those Dail questions.

State funded Tammany Hall

There has been much discussion over the past number of days about the help given by Bertie Ahern to businessman Norman Turner in obtaining an Irish passport.

What astonishes me about the matter is the revelation that there exists an independent passport service set up for the exclusive benefit of friends and favoured constituents of politicians – This is Tammany Hall at its most bizarre.

What further astonishes me is that nobody seems to think it’s the least bit odd. Moore McDowell, brother of the recently ousted and infamous Minister for Justice, is one of the privileged who has benefited from this exclusive service. Speaking on the Marian Finucane Show (Sun.3rd Feb) he said;

“I had a contact in politics…I lost my passport and had another provided within days…It’s actually a recognised procedure within Foreign Affairs that an emergency passport will be given out, effectively, if a TD goes in to bat for you.”

A spokesperson in the Dept. of Foreign Affairs told me that it’s a choice that people can make; that TDs are approached on a lot of issues. On her advice I have made a formal submission to the Minister requesting answers to a series of questions on the matter.

Curiously, there is no mention of this special service on the Passports Office website so I have also written to that office requesting information on how ‘ordinary’ citizens can access the service.

Irish Times columnist, Noel Whelan, explained how the system works (Today FM, Sunday Supplement, 3rd February).

Apparently, there’s a drop box at the Enquiries Desk in the Dail where TDs deposit passport documents which are then taken by courier across the road to the Passports Office where they are processed at a specially designated desk staffed by three civil servants.

These civil servants are on call to deal with any questions or problems that may arise in relation to the processing of these special passports.

When the passport is ready it is returned by courier to our national parliament where it is collected by the TD and delivered personally to the favoured citizen.

The system was introduced about 15 years ago because the Foreign Affairs office was being swamped by TDs trying to obtain passports for the favoured.

So, there are at least five highly paid civil servants employed in providing this service and the obvious question is – Why?

It’s certainly not because the Passports Office is inefficient. The office provides an extremely well run and efficient service. In addition to normal service there is a special express 10 working day return service for those who need a passport in a hurry. And in addition to that there is also an emergency service whereby citizens can obtain a passport in a couple of days. Only last month a friend of mine obtained a passport in two days.

Politicians themselves provide some of the answers. According to Fianna Fail TD, Eamon O’Cuiv all TDs are effectively postmen, personally delivering passports to constituents all over the country (The Late Debate, 31st Jan).

Insulting the intelligence of listeners O’Cuiv asserted that TDs have no influence whatsoever over the specially designated civil servants who process the special passports for special citizens.

I spoke with Fine Gael TD, David Stanton about the matter. He candidly admitted that there’s no major advantage for those availing of the service but if TDs refused people were going to get ‘pissed off’.

The bottom line is that this service is a resource provided by the State to politicians which they then use to effectively buy votes. In return for selling their vote the favoured receive privileges not available to most other citizens.

Sunshine for the politicians; shade for the peasants

Prof. Drumm must be sick, sick that he accepted the job as chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Sick that he allowed himself to be duped into taking the job of reforming a heath system that has become an uncontrollable monster. Sick to witness the very people responsible for creating that monster; turn on him like a pack of vicious wolves.

For decades, Irish politicians were in charge of the health service and for decades they did what Irish politicians do best, used it as a means of buying votes. It was ‘jobs for the boys’ and to hell with the consequences.

There was a time when there were only two or three health boards but because every politician wanted a board in his area this number mushroomed into eleven. Imagine, eleven health boards to organise health facilities for about three million people.

This meant that there was eleven separate, grotesquely overstaffed, administrations choking the system to death and literally putting lives in danger. When the situation began to get out of control it was decided to abolish all eleven boards and replace them with a single authority that would bring reform, efficiency and, most importantly, a good health service to the Irish people.

To achieve this laudable aim job cuts would have to be made, work practices would have to change; civil servants would have to move, efficiencies would have to be made, some jobs would even have to be lost. In a nutshell, politicians would have to show courageous leadership and civil servants would have to cooperate.

This, of course, never happened. Instead, the cowardly politicians pretended to abolish the boards, it was all done – on paper. Not a single civil servant lost his job, nobody moved, there were no rationalisations or efficiencies. Everybody was still entitled to guaranteed promotions, guaranteed wage rises, guaranteed benchmarking – for life.

In effect, all that happened was the creation of a new twelfth health board. This was the mother of all health boards, it was going to supervise the inefficiencies and incompetence of all the other boards and for that it required and got a super bloated layer of administration staff.

From that moment, the grotesque monster was rampaging out of control and Irish citizens began to suffer even more, and at times, die. But the cowardly politicians had covered themselves well. In a by now common strategy, the HSE and in particular its chief executive was used as a buffer to distance cowardly politicians from the mess they had created. Mary Harney, the alleged Minister for Health, frequently suggests that the latest scandal is a matter for the HSE, nothing to do with her.

It must have been sickening for Prof. Drumm to listen to the wolf pack as they set about their work of abdicating responsibility in our national parliament yesterday; it was certainly vomit inducing for me. Here’s a flavour of what the cowardly incompetents had to say: (Full report on Drivetime, 3rd item)

Labour TD, Joan Burton spoke about the lack of trust that the public and politicians had in the HSE, about how impossible it was for politicians to get answers. No mention of political culpability.

Fianna Fail TD, Mary O’Rourke who has been in politics for decades, who has held several senior positions in government, who is a member of the party that has held power for more years than any other party, who, by dint of her cowardice, is one of the principal architects of the present mess, was ruthless in her condemnation of the HSE and in particular Prof. Drumm.

She related how she had recently left a boring session in the Dail to take a walk down to Brown Thomas. On the way she met eleven women all with horror stories about friends and relations affected by cancer.

Think about that, an Irish politician leaves our national parliament suffering from boredom, meets several distressed citizens and is incapable of making a connection between the two events. She then demonstrates a complete lack of intelligence by using the event to bolster her attack on Prof. Drumm as if it was he, rather than her that was responsible for their distress.

Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony from Mayo spoke with the typical narrow minded parochialism, the hypocritical ‘but’ factor that Olivia O’Leary (Drivetime) spoke about. “I’m all in favour of centres of excellence” ‘but’ my constituency should keep its facilities.

Labour TD, Liz McManus spoke of the need for the establishment of a patient’s safety authority. Yet another layer of bureaucracy staffed by self serving unaccountable civil servants.

Fianna Fail TD, Margaret Conlon, amazingly, spoke the truth with clarity. “We cannot talk out of both sides of our mouths; we need to ensure that our resources are not spread too widely and too thinly because if this is the case, everyone loses.” Cleary, Ms. Conlon is a new TD and has yet to learn the mafia traditions of her chosen party.

Fianna Fail TD, Beverly Flynn would make an excellent tutor of those mafia traditions. A politician with no reputation to lose, daughter of a disgraced politician who had no scruples about cheating on his taxes and operating illegal offshore accounts, took the same narrow minded and hypocritical view as Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony.

Progressive Democrats TD and Minister for Health (without responsibility), Mary Harney, mouthed the standard and by now insulting apology to the victims.

Mary O’Rourke spoke about a dawn that is always promised but never actually dawns, that she was in despair over the health services.

Why would she be in despair? She exists in the unaccountable, grotesquely overpaid and arrogant world of Irish politics. She, like most of her colleagues, do not have the courage to actually do anything about the situation.

She only encounters reality when she wanders out of the rarefied world of our useless and boring parliament, she will never find herself in the situation of the eleven distressed women she met, she will never have to worry about a lack of medical facilities for herself or her family.

Her dawn and that of her colleagues arrived years ago when they created a system that provides constant sunshine for themselves, family and friends but leaves a large percentage of the people they claim to represent in the shade and some of them – condemned to the ultimate darkness.

Copy of this post to:

Prof. Drumm
HSE
Mary Harney, TD
Joan Burton, TD
Mary O’Rourke, TD
John O’Mahony, TD
Liz McManus, TD
Margaret Conlon, TD
Beverly Flynn, TD
Fianna Fail Party
Fine Gael Party
Labour Party
Progressive Democrats Party
Green Party

No simply answers in a corrupt system

On 23rd Oct last I received an email from the Ombudsman informing me that she had received a copy of a letter sent to me by Dublin City Council finally answering a simple question I had asked of them the previous April. The Ombudsman ends her letter as follows.

“As the Council has replied to your correspondence, there appears to be no further role for this Office in this matter and we will now close your
file.”

This brings to an end a tough campaign to extract an answer to a simple question from Dublin City Council. The following is a chronological account of events with my comments.

April 16th 2007: Irish Times reports that Fianna Fail TD for Donegal South West and Minister of State, Pat the Cope Gallagher had illegally erected a number of posters around Croke Park in Dublin. His actions were in contravention of the 1997 Litter Pollution Act.

April 18th: I phoned Dublin City Council and asked the simple question: “Was Minister of State, Pat the Cope Gallagher, fined for illegally erecting posters in Dublin city”?

Bernie Lillis, of Dublin City Council Litter Office told me that it was her personal office policy not to reveal such information about fines. The incident and its consequences were confidential, a personal matter between her office and the minister.

Ms. Lillis further informed me that she had spoken with the Minister and had accepted his plea that he wasn’t aware his actions were against the law. Ms. Lillis and the minister are, apparently, unaware of the public policy; “Ignorantia legis neminem excusat” (Ignorance of the law excuses no one).

Ms. Lillis is also obviously gullible enough to believe that a Government minister and politician of long standing would be unaware of a major piece of legislation like the 1997 Litter Pollution Act.

April 20th: I spoke with Pat Cronin head of waste management at Dublin City Council. Initially, Mr. Cronin refused point blank to answer my question. He seemed genuinely astonished that a man in his position was actually being challenged by a mere citizen.

When I persisted he eventually said that if I wanted an answer I would have to put it in writing. When I asked by what law/regulation he was basing his demand that I put my question in writing on, he just kept repeating; put it in writing, put it in writing…

This is, in my experience, a standard bureaucratic strategy based on the (correct) assumption that most people will drop their queries rather than go to the bother of putting them in writing.

April 23rd: Posted registered letter personally addressed to Mr. Cronin (Copy One below).

April 25th – 22nd May: Made numerous attempts to confirm that Mr. Cronin had received my registered letter. I met with a brick wall on every attempt.

April 23rd: Irish Independent reports that Minister Gallagher had again illegally erected a number of posters in his Donegal South West constituency.

Despite his conversation with Bernie Lillis the week before, Gallagher admitted that he hadn’t checked whether he was breaching any regulations in Donegal. Again, Gallagher is claiming ignorance of the law and, more unbelievably, ignorance of the 1997 Litter Pollution Act.

April 23 – May 23rd: Made numerous attempts to find out from Donegal County Council what action they proposed to take against Gallagher. I met with a brick wall at every attempt.

I was eventually advised that I should put my complaint in writing (All bureaucrats are, apparently, aware of the ‘make them put it in writing’ strategy).

May 23rd: Posted official complaint about Gallagher’s illegal activities to Donegal County Council (Copy Two below).

May 24th: Submitted formal complaint by email to the Standards in Public Office Commission regarding Gallagher’s illegal activities (Copy Three below)

May 30th: Posted official complaint on Gallagher to Dublin City Council.

June 27th: Posted official complaint to the Ombudsman on the refusal of Dublin City Council staff to answer my question.

July 3rd: Received email from the Standards in Public Office Commission rejecting my complaint on the basis that Gallagher’s illegal activities were not of sufficient gravity to warrant an investigation.

A Government minister openly breaks the law on two occasions and a Government agency charged with upholding standards in public office concludes that such illegal activities are not of sufficient gravity.

In a perverse way, they have a point. Irish politicians regularly commit much more serious crimes without ever being brought to account.

July 19th: Received reply to my official complaint from Donegal County Council stating that because they had received no complaint about Gallagher they had no cause to investigate the matter.

This deserves repeating – Donegal County Council rejected my complaint about Gallagher on the grounds that they had received no complaint.

July 31st: Received letter from Dublin City Council finally answering the simple question I asked on April 18th – Gallagher was not fined for his illegal activities. (Copy Four below)

I believe the only reason Dublin City Council bothered to finally answer my question was because of my complaint to the Ombudsman.

October 23rd: Received email from the Ombudsman informing me that they had received a copy of the letter sent to me by Dublin City Council in which my question was answered and were therefore closing my file.

The question can reasonably be asked: Why bother? Why go to all that trouble to force a civil/public servant to answer a simple question?

The core principle of this blog is that Ireland, unique among all other Western democracies, is a corrupt state. While all other Western countries suffer to some degree from the disease of corruption, Ireland is, as a country, a totally corrupt entity.

One of the strategies of this blog is to prove this point by asking questions of politicians and Government agencies and judge by their responses whether they have the best interests of the Irish people at heart or whether they are perhaps serving another agenda.

I want to make absolutely clear that I am not accusing any of those involved in this episode of being corrupt, what I am claiming is that they have to live, work and continuously deal with an intrinsically corrupt system.

Every other resident of this state must do the same, everybody is forced to adapt to the rotten system whether they like it or not.

Everybody has to adapt to a culture where tax evasion is endemic, where financial institutions are allowed to regularly rob their customers, where politicians are permitted to live out lucrative careers of corruption without being made accountable.

Where white collar crime is barely recognised as a crime, where nobody is ever, ever held accountable, even when people die because of gross incompetence or negligence.

Where everybody knows that arrogance, incompetence and corruption have become as much a part of our culture as St. Patrick’s Day and Guinness.

That’s why, I believe, the public/civil servants involved in this case have acted as they have. They have acted in a manner that is largely consistent with how the bureaucracy of any third rate banana republic would act when faced with the choice of enforcing the law against a law breaking Government minister or cowering in fear behind a wall of bureaucratic arrogance and officialdom.

If a politician deliberately set out to break the law in any other Western democracy there would have been widespread public anger, there would have been immediate and effective action by the authorities and that politician’s career would have been terminated on the insistence of his colleagues in the body politic.

As for Gallagher himself, he’s practically an irrelevance. A member of the most corrupt political party in Ireland, a typical backwoodsman politician who will do anything to get and hold power, including breaking the law.

A low pedigree politician following in the footsteps of a long line of low pedigree politicians who’s only distinguishing legacy will be the enormous damage they have done to the quality of Irish democracy.

Copy of this post to:

Dublin City Council
Standards in Office Commission
Donegal County Council
Ombudsman
Mr. Gallagher, Minister of State with special responsibility for Health Promotions and Food Safety at the Department of Health and Children.

(Previous posts on this matter – Here, here, here here, here, here, here

—————————————————————————————————————————-

(Copy One)

Letter to Mr. Cronin head of waste management at Dublin City Council.

23rd April 2007

Dear Mr. Cronin,

On Monday 16th April it was reported in the Irish Times that Minister for State, Pat the Cope Gallagher, had illegally erected a number of posters around Dublin.

On Wednesday 18th April I rang Dublin City Council to find out what action had been taken in response to this incident. I was informed by Bernie Lillis of the Litter Office that it was the policy of her office to keep such matters confidential.

When I asked Ms Lillis what legislation/regulation she was basing her decision on she referred me to your office.

On Friday 20th April I spoke with you on the phone and asked the same question. You refused to answer any questions on the phone and insisted I write to you on the matter. Here are my questions:

What action did Dublin City Council take in response to the illegal erection of posters around Dublin by Minister of State Pat the Cope Gallagher as reported in the Irish Times on the 16th April 2007?

If fines were imposed, what was the sum total of those fines?

Regarding the authority of public/civil servants to make personal decisions on what information will or will not be allowed into the public arena.

Does Ms. Lillis of the Litter Office have the authority to form a personal office confidentiality policy which results in information being denied to the public? If she has this authority, on what regulatory basis does her power rest?

Do you, Mr. Cronin, have the authority to refuse to answer my specific questions regarding the specific events surrounding the illegal erection of posters by Minister of State, Pat Gallagher? If you do have that authority, by what regulatory basis are you acting?

Do you have the authority to refuse to answer my questions on the phone and insist that the matter can only be dealt with in writing? If you do have that authority, by what regulatory basis are you acting?

In today’s Irish Independent (23rd April) it is reported that Minister Gallagher has again erected illegal posters in Donegal. From the report it seems that they are the same posters that were illegally erected in Dublin and which, according to Ms. Lillis, were returned to Minister Gallagher.

Does Dublin City Council have a policy of rendering posters unusable before returning them to lawbreakers? (A quick daub of paint is all that would be required to protect other jurisdictions from rogue politicians like Minister Gallagher).

My motive for requesting this information is simple. I am an anti-corruption campaigner. I do not belong to any political party but act out of anger at the enormous damage being done to Ireland by the disease of rampant corruption.

As part of my campaigning I write a blog at https://www.publicinquiry.eu/ where Irish corruption is reported and analysed.

Obviously, the irresponsible and illegal activities of a Government Minister and the apparent inability/unwillingness of any state authority to bring him to justice are reported on the blog.

Yours in anger

Anthony Sheridan

(Copy Two)

Official complaint to Donegal County Council.

23rd May 2007

To Whom It May Concern,

Subsequent to several phone calls and on the advice of Donegal County Council staff I hereby submit this official complaint regarding a breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997.

On Monday April 23rd 2007 it was reported in the Irish Independent that Minister of State, Pat the Cope Gallagher, had mounted posters on poles on routes out of his Donegal South West constituency. It is further reported in the same newspaper that the said minister admitted that he had not checked whether he was in any breach of regulations.

I can confirm that when the minister erected illegal posters in Dublin city a number of days before his actions in Donegal he was informed by Dublin City Council that the erection of such posters was an illegal act.

In other word, when the minister erected the posters in Donegal he was aware that he was committing an illegal act. This information can be independently confirmed by contacting Ms. Bernie Lillis at Dublin City Council litter office (01/2224243).

I request an acknowledgment of this official complaint and I would be grateful to be informed of the outcome of any investigation.

Yours sincerely

Anthony Sheridan

(Copy Three)

Formal complaint to Standards in Office Commission

24th May 2007

To Whom It May Concern,

I wish to formally lodge a complaint under the Ethics in Public Office, Acts 1995 and/or the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001.
The complaint concerns the illegal erection of posters by Minister of State Pat the Cope Gallagher in Dublin and Donegal.

The first incident, as reported in the Irish Times on April 16th, involved the illegal erection of posters around Croke Park in Dublin. According to the report, Minister Gallagher openly admits that he organised and participated in this illegal act.

The second incident, as reported in the Irish Independent on April 23rd, involved the illegal erection of posters on poles on routes out of the ministers Donegal South West constituency.

In respect of the first incident in Dublin, I have been informed by Ms. Bernie Lillis of Dublin City Council Litter Office (01/2224243), that she informed the minister that his actions were illegal. According to Ms. Lillis, the minister apologised for his actions but claimed he did not realise he was breaking the law.

By claiming ignorance of the law the minister is asserting that, as a citizen, an elected representative and a government minister, he was unaware of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997, a piece of legislation that attracted widespread comment and analysis by the general public, the body politic and the media.

He is also asking the nation to accept that claimed ignorance of the law is a justified and reasonable defence.

It is reasonable to assume that minister Gallagher knew or should have known that he was in breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997 when he erected the posters in Dublin and was therefore acting in an irresponsible and unethical manner.

Because of the information he received from Bernie Lillis, it is an absolute certainty that minister Gallagher knew he was breaking the law when he illegally erected posters in Donegal some days after the Dublin incident.

By deliberately setting out to break the law of the land, it is clear that the minister is in serious breach of the Code of Conduct for Office Holders as outlined by the Standards in Office Commission (Office Holders), sections 1.3 Requirement to observe the Code of Conduct, 1.4 Principles of Ethical Conduct and 1.5 Highest ethical standards to be applied at all times.

Yours sincerely
Anthony Sheridan

(Copy Four)

From Dublin City Council

Dear Mr. Sheridan

I refer to your letter of 23/04/2007 and apologise for the delay in replying, which was due to oversight.

On 15/04/2007 Dublin City Council staff removed posters carrying the name, “Pat the Cope Gallagher” which had been erected on it’s (sic) property, (public lighting poles).

Subject to stringent conditions, Dublin City Council occasionally gives permission for the erection of posters on it’s (sic) property, but no application was received in respect of these posters. They were removed for disposal but Mr. Gallagher claimed not to have known of Dublin City Council’s policy and the posters were returned on the understanding that there would be no further breach of that policy. In the circumstances no further action was taken.

Where fines are issued under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, Dublin City Council will disclose general details, but not personal information, pending possible prosecution and court hearing. This is in line with the principle of presumed innocence until proven guilty. In this instance no fine was issued and details of discussions held with Mr. Gallagher were regarded as confidential and not disclosed. This policy applies equally across the board.

Mr. Cronin requested that you put your various questions in writing. This was to enable a reasoned and accurate reply to issue, which he felt he wasn’t in a position to do in a phone conversation. In the circumstances the request was reasonable.

Again I would like to apologise for the delay in replaying to your queries, but if there are any issues you would like to discuss further please contact me as above.

Signed
Niall O’Keeffe
A/Senior Executive Officer

Simple question, straight and courteous answer

I rang the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) yesterday to enquire if they intended taking action against Jim Flavin for insider trading in the Fyffes case.

I was expecting a standard response when dealing with a government agency, either a curt statement that such matters were secret or the beginning of a run around that would last months.

Instead I spoke to a courteous and professional woman who took my number and assured me that somebody would ring back in the afternoon.

I was even more surprised when Paul Appleby, the director of ODCE, rang back and in a friendly and helpful manner informed me that they were examining the High Court and Supreme Court decisions before deciding what action to take and therefore couldn’t make any further comment at this stage.

A simple question that received a straight and courteous answer – Impressive.

Best paid, least accountable

On 18th April last, I phoned Dublin City Council to ask a simple question.

Was Minister for State, Pat the Cope Gallagher, fined for illegally erecting a number of posters around Dublin?

104 days later, on 30th July, I was finally informed in a letter from Dublin City Council that Gallagher was not fined.

Over those 104 days I made numerous phone calls, sent emails, wrote letters, made official complaints and generally made myself known to Dublin City Council Waste Management staff.

Here’s the letter followed by my comments

Dear Mr. Sheridan,

I refer to your letter of 23/04/07 and apologise for the delay in replying, which was due to an oversight.

On 15/04/2007 Dublin City Council staff removed posters carrying the name, “Pat the Cope Gallagher” which had been erected on it’s (sic) property, (public lighting poles). Subject to stringent conditions, Dublin City Council occasionally gives permission for the erection of posters on it’s (sic) property, but no application was received in respect of these posters. They were removed for disposal but Mr. Gallagher claimed not to have known of Dublin City Council’s policy and the posters were returned on the understanding that there would be no further breach of that policy. In the circumstances no further action was taken.

Where fines are issued under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, Dublin City Council will disclose general details, but not personal information, pending possible prosecution and court hearing. This is in line with the principle of presumed innocence until proven guilty. In this instance no fine was issued and details of discussions held with Mr. Gallagher were regarded as confidential and not disclosed. This policy applies equally across the board.

Mr. Cronin requested that you put your various questions in writing. This was to enable a reasoned and accurate reply to the issue, which he felt he wasn’t in a position to do in a phone conversation. In the circumstances the request was reasonable.

Again I would like to apologise for the delay in replying to your queries, but if there are any issues you would like to discuss further please contact me as above.

Yours faithfully

Niall O’Keeffe
A/Senior Executive Officer

I had regular and robust conversations with Dublin City Council staff on the matter so I don’t believe that the delay was due to an oversight. These so called public servants treated me as I believe they treat most other citizens.

First, a paternalistic attitude was adopted assuring me that the matter was dealt with and not to worry. When I insisted on an answer a more aggressive attitude developed and I was, in effect, told that it was none of my business. When this failed to work I was referred to a more senior staff member.

This public servant was at first outraged at the very idea that an ordinary citizen (peasant) had the temerity to challenge government officials. When I raised the question of regulations/duties/obligations I was angrily told to put my question in writing.

I did, by registered post and addressed personally to this particular public servant. The final contemptuous strategy was then adopted. Despite a clear request for an acknowledgement my letter was completely ignored.

It was, I believe, only after these people learned that I had made an official complaint to the Ombudsman about their behaviour that I finally received an answer to my simple question.

Arrogance, contempt, ignorance, paternalism, secrecy, dishonesty, incompetence – All this from the best paid but least accountable public service in Europe.