I am campaigning for the reversal of the imposition of charges on disabled adults who are living independently. Click for some history.
I guess when my main activism has been concentrated around ensuring that my sister and every other person with a disability is treated in a decent manner just as every other citizen of this republic should be.
I read this piece by Fergus Finlay (updated link now in Irish Examiner archive) in the Examiner* back in April and I was positively seething afterwards. I urge everyone to read Fergus's piece. And please Click the Clamp to the right to sign the petition - >
My sister, who is a year, a month and a day younger than me, is intellectually disabled (as if she didn't have enough to put up with being my sister) and lives quite happily in Killarney, in sheltered housing managed by the Kerry Parents and Friends Association who do a fine job trying to ensure that people in Kerry can live as independently and fulfilling a life as possible. Finding a place close to home was a process of years of fighting mainly on the part of my mother dealing with the various bureaucracies of the state, during which she was placed in Devlin, Co. Westmeath, Mayfield Co. Cork, Tralee and now Killarney.
It now appears that the department of health (which has historically dropped the ball on supports for those with disabilities) is planning to implement the same regime of charges for those with disabilities as for the pensioners in residential care. Which means they will charge disabled people for living in residential settings. And charge them out of their disabled person's maintenance allowance. The DPMA is currently €184 per week which is less than an old age non-contributory pension and about the same as the dole. So if you are on the dole, and live away from home the state will pay you a rent supplement but if you make the same attempt to live independently as a disabled person the state will charge you for the pleasure? And, get this, the state is also planning to apply this new regime retrospectively! They are right now sending bills to the parents of people with disabilities looking for back payments. Can you fucking believe it?
You know one of the most stressful things for parents of someone with a disability is the ever present thought of what will happen when you're gone. This is someone that you love with all your heart but you know that unlike your other children who you will also worry about (worrying seeming to be in the very nature of parenting, and is something that you don't realise until you become a parent yourself or see friends become parents) that your disabled child won't ever be able to fend for themselves completely and they will always need someone to be looking out for them. And when you're gone you hope that your community will care for them and the state which is the community writ large and the mechanism for expressing that care will do what it can.
I actually genuinely thought that Cowen's efforts, particularly in his budgets , were the sign that the issue of treating people with disabilities fairly, and supporting those organisations that work in the area, was now completely part of the mainstream of Irish political life. I thought despite all the other differences I might have with the guy that here is someone that gets it.
I can tell you now that anyone whether from the revenue or the department of health who tries to take or takes by sleight of hand money from my sister will find me on their door beating their fucking head in with whatever comes to hand. When it comes to my sister I will happily get all Timothy McVeigh on you and your place of work.
As Fergus points out unlike the elderly those with disability will almost certainly never have the chance to be members of the work force and accrue money and assets that might be put into paying for their care. Again, I would urge people to read Fergus's piece he manages to be put it much more than I do.
* The examiner has in the last few years become my alternate to the Irish Times, in large part because you can't depend on the Independent to get the days of the week right.
Friday, June 01, 2007
The NUI Stakes are off and running
The horses in the paddocks and as they approach the track itself we will have a quick look over the following runners and riders.
Oh and the flag has been dropped and they're off...
Bresnihan, Valerie: - Social and Human Rights Researcher
A previous runner and also did quite well as I recall.
Brodbin, Shane: - Product Manager
Ex-DCU SU President
Connolly, Mark: - Financial Services Official
Apparently he is very supportive of the government, in fact wanted that on his entry on the ballot paper but did not have any documentation to back it up. Honesty when I saw him in person I thought he was one of Bock the Robber's men from the Blog Awards. Seriously.
Crowley, Liam: - Solicitor
Another man from Puck, Christ people will think we're trying to take over. A director of elections for John "the bull" O'Donoghue on occasion. And a local election candidate for FF in 2004.
Garavan, Mark: - Lecturer and Sociologist
The Shell to Sea representative. I'll bet J/Gerry Cowley never thought when deciding to support him that he would be out of the Oireachtas himself when the election was being held. Sociologist? I thought he had suggested he was some sort of chemical engineer when taking about the pipeline.
Healy, Paddy: - Immediate Past President, Teachers’ Union of Ireland, and Lecturer
Apparently, a brother of Seamus Healy who was TD for Tipperary South until a short while ago.
Hillery, John Anthony: - Medical Doctor
Hogan, Martin: - Green Reform Candidate and Business Mentor
Nice bloke. Can't imagine he is too impressed at Mark Garavan's late declaration.
Kennedy, John Paul Alexander: - Software Engineer; Young Fine Gael
Endorsed Candidate
Lowe, Martina: - Director, GET AHEAD
MacCárthaigh, Dáithí: - Abhcóide/Barrister
Monahan, Oonagh: - Business Manager
NUIG person, is the west awake?
Mullen, Rónán: - Barrister, Teacher, Columnist
O’Callaghan, Bernie: - Hotelier
Ó Gógáin, Liam: - Engineer and Lecturer
Father's rights is primarily his focus or so it appears from googling.
O’Riordan, Mary: - Medical Doctor
O’Shea Farren, Linda Mary Patricia: - Solicitor and Human Rights Advocate
Was Nora Owen's programme manager according to the good people at thepost.ie and has a nice address apparently.
O'Sullivan, Bernadine: - Secondary Teacher
Former ASTI President who has run before and came close to unseating Brendan Ryan. Was last time her only real chance? Her campaign may well consist of saying
Benchmarking- bad ICTU - boo hiss and so on.
O'Toole, Joe: - Senator and Educationalist
Educationalist no less! there's posh for ya. Used to be when being a teacher was good enough for our Joe. Still and all he's from Dingle so I won't say anything too bad about him.
Philips, Susan: Political Analyst
Seems to be UCD academic
Price, Brendan: - Biologist, Founder: Irish Seal Sanctuary
Plenty of experience over this course and well aware of intricacies of the process.
Quinn, Feargal: - Senator
A pleasant man to speak with and surely a shoe-in again this time out.
Ryan, Brendan: - Senator and Lecturer in Chemical Engineering
Interesting to see Brendan making a targeted love bomb of engineers. His vote dropped last time out after he had joined the Labour party and run in the general election. Not sure what impact it may have this time.
Sullivan, Daniel K: - Disability Activist and Software Development Researcher.
The above was intended to have read Software Development Researcher and Disability Activist but the box was rather small and once I got Software Development Researcher written I realised I would have write Disability Activist above it for it to fit in the same area. I have some qualms with the word "Activist" too as it speaks to me of folks gathered around a Formica topped table, smoking butts talking about assisting the workers in their struggle to overthrow the bosses. Still it seems to be the vernacular of the times so.Oh and the flag has been dropped and they're off...
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Where could Labour have won?
Reflecting on Tommy Broughan comments and those of others whether in the meeja or the Labour party about the Rabbitte - Labour Strategy got me thinking about where the party could actually have won if they had pursued a more independent path and if as a consequence their % had been up.
In essence that would mean taking votes from FF candidates that would have come from those that would have wanted Bertie as Taoiseach. After all those that wanted Enda would be less inclined to vote for a more neutral Labour.
Kerry South - the key factor here I would reckon was Moynihan-Cronin's decision to retire and then come back. While she was out of the picture others were knocking on doors and saying "vote for me", it is hard to make up that gap once others have gotten the political mind share in a locality.
Meath East - This is a kind of split in that the FG vote seems to have been up too. Was Byrne's vote down to geography? Strange thing is that Fitzgerald's votes did not particularly go anywhere. They just sort of drifted off in various directions.
Dublin South Central - the problem for the Labour party here is the variety of left options who to be honest do not think much of Bertie or Enda. Here people have a choice between the left, the hard left, the far left and the "we're so left we must be right" people.
Wicklow - well, the FG vote was up too so it could be argued that had the Labour party been even more anti FF that they might have secured that vote instead of it going to FG. It has to be said that Nicky Kelly's more recent brushes with the law in relation to driving issues can't have helped.
Tipperary North - more of a problem with the same old face I'm not so sure the locals are all that crazy about the self help crowd O'Meara is involved with.
Dublin North - again another old face though this time the brother. If they had gone for some new in Dublin North instead of the Ryan's regarding it as a fiefdom.
In essence Labour could have been 2/3% higher nationally and not won anymore seats (bar Hannigan I reckon) unless the candidate selection issues about were addressed. In all bar one of these seats it was old familiar faces, perhaps too familiar faces that were running.
So, I think the problem for Labour wasn't the accord it was the failure to prevent FF getting votes instead of Labour's failure to get them.
In essence that would mean taking votes from FF candidates that would have come from those that would have wanted Bertie as Taoiseach. After all those that wanted Enda would be less inclined to vote for a more neutral Labour.
Kerry South - the key factor here I would reckon was Moynihan-Cronin's decision to retire and then come back. While she was out of the picture others were knocking on doors and saying "vote for me", it is hard to make up that gap once others have gotten the political mind share in a locality.
Meath East - This is a kind of split in that the FG vote seems to have been up too. Was Byrne's vote down to geography? Strange thing is that Fitzgerald's votes did not particularly go anywhere. They just sort of drifted off in various directions.
Dublin South Central - the problem for the Labour party here is the variety of left options who to be honest do not think much of Bertie or Enda. Here people have a choice between the left, the hard left, the far left and the "we're so left we must be right" people.
Wicklow - well, the FG vote was up too so it could be argued that had the Labour party been even more anti FF that they might have secured that vote instead of it going to FG. It has to be said that Nicky Kelly's more recent brushes with the law in relation to driving issues can't have helped.
Tipperary North - more of a problem with the same old face I'm not so sure the locals are all that crazy about the self help crowd O'Meara is involved with.
Dublin North - again another old face though this time the brother. If they had gone for some new in Dublin North instead of the Ryan's regarding it as a fiefdom.
In essence Labour could have been 2/3% higher nationally and not won anymore seats (bar Hannigan I reckon) unless the candidate selection issues about were addressed. In all bar one of these seats it was old familiar faces, perhaps too familiar faces that were running.
So, I think the problem for Labour wasn't the accord it was the failure to prevent FF getting votes instead of Labour's failure to get them.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
I'll be FF are glad we don't have E-Voting machines now!
Imagine what the reaction that would have come from many quarters if this result had happened with E-Voting machines in use. I would think that a good many people might have suspected some tampering.
Just goes to show the benefit of some transparency in the democratic process.
Just goes to show the benefit of some transparency in the democratic process.
How to go about forming an FG lead government.
I know most people will think this belongs in the realm of pure fantasy, but at this point in time we are looking at FG 51 + Lab 20 + Grn 6 = 77
If the PDs decide they have no future as a party then moves should be made to do the following
I would agree that this at this point in time might not seem the most likely of outcomes but those measures should be explored because while they might not result in a government lead by FG this year we may yet see one in the next 2/3 years.
Bev may have to step down inside the next 12 months if the RTe suit for bankruptcy is successful. This would result in a bye election that FG might well win if it were to happen when such a result would lead to a Mayo Taoiseach.
It is noteworthy that while the last few Dails have had no bye elections due to members passing away that some such as Jackie Healy Rae, Mary O'Rourke and Michael Woods are, as the sayings goes, getting on in years indeed all three are over 70 at this point. That is not something I'm exactly wishing for but we need to be realistic about the possibilities that might arise during the lifetime of the Dail.
So I am basically saying that I think that a new FF lead government might well not last 5 years. Of course my predictions on the election results were pretty off the mark so I will hold my hands up and admit my credibility on this might be viewed by some as being weak.
If the PDs decide they have no future as a party then moves should be made to do the following
- Elect Mary Harney as Ceann Comhairle, on the proviso that she would step down in advance of the next election allowing Tony Gregory to be elected as Ceann Comhairle securing his support. It would appear that Mary Harney does not wish to be leader of a party that requires considerable rebuilding and also that she was always planning on leaving the Oireachtas at the end of this the 30th Dail.
- Get Noel Grealish to join FG with the certainty of being an FG candidate for Galway West next time.
- Do a deal with Jackie Healy Rae which includes making one of his sons a Taoiseach's nominee for the Seanad giving him the profile to succeed Jackie next time out.
- Sort out some packages that would satisfy McGrath and Lowry over the lifetime of the government.
I would agree that this at this point in time might not seem the most likely of outcomes but those measures should be explored because while they might not result in a government lead by FG this year we may yet see one in the next 2/3 years.
Bev may have to step down inside the next 12 months if the RTe suit for bankruptcy is successful. This would result in a bye election that FG might well win if it were to happen when such a result would lead to a Mayo Taoiseach.
It is noteworthy that while the last few Dails have had no bye elections due to members passing away that some such as Jackie Healy Rae, Mary O'Rourke and Michael Woods are, as the sayings goes, getting on in years indeed all three are over 70 at this point. That is not something I'm exactly wishing for but we need to be realistic about the possibilities that might arise during the lifetime of the Dail.
So I am basically saying that I think that a new FF lead government might well not last 5 years. Of course my predictions on the election results were pretty off the mark so I will hold my hands up and admit my credibility on this might be viewed by some as being weak.
Was this 'the' local general election?
I will post more on this, but it occurs to me that in many ways this was a very local general election.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Minor moments of the election - part 1
1) Seeing SF outpoll the PDs in Dublin North.
2) Seeing RockofCashel being excluded from the 3rd count.
By moments, I don't necessarily mean moments of delight (though the first one certainly was) more that they are moments that will stick in my memory.
2) Seeing RockofCashel being excluded from the 3rd count.
By moments, I don't necessarily mean moments of delight (though the first one certainly was) more that they are moments that will stick in my memory.
Are we all focused on the wrong debate as the turning point of the election?
Given the substantial increase in the FG vote and seat return from that vote and the disappointing performance of the smaller parties, might it be that it wasn't the Leader's Debate part 2 with Bertie and Enda that was the turning point of the election but rather the part 1 version with Pat, Gerry, Michael and Trevor.
Just my initial thoughts.
Just my initial thoughts.
Dude, was I ever wrong!
That's all I'm saying for now, I'm going to head over to some mates and rehash the whole thing and watch how it unfolds.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Election predictions - the whole shebang
I did the old election prediction thing a while back and I think I'm going to revise it here.
| Constituency | Seats | Result of 2002 election | kingkane's Prediction | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow Kilkenny | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 Green: 1 I think that the two Labour candidates are too weak and transfers won't be tight enough to get them the seat especially when geography comes into play. | ||
| Cavan Monaghan | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 2 SF: 1 Connolly has been a failure on the hospital and Conlon was selected much too late. | ||
| Clare | 4 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 FG will deny the various FF's the chance to move outside their areas and gain votes. Indo Breen to be squeezed as people want a government. | ||
| Cork East | 4 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 It seems to be forgotten that Sherlock Snr. used to struggle at one for a his seat. Also SF will eat into that vote a bit. So FG to gain in the end. | ||
| Cork North Central | 4 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 Lab: 1 The entry of McCarthy has opened this open .FG should actually sneak it now but more likely it will stay the same | ||
| Cork North West | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 2 I think the vote management for FF is going to be truly terrible and that will cost them the seat. | ||
| Cork South Central | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 Green: 1 Martin won't have the surplus to save Dennehy this time. | ||
| Cork South West | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 2 FF are content to lose this one as they know O'Donovan could be the sole TD going for reelection in 2012 | ||
| Donegal North East | 3 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 Blaney to lose out and I'm coming round to the idea that SF might gain here too. | ||
| Donegal South West | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 SF: 1 The Cope to lose out. | ||
| Dublin Central | 4 |
| FF: 1 Lab: 1 Green: 1 Others: 1 FF have made a right mess of this. If they had run just Mary Fitz , they would have held it. | ||
| Dublin Mid West | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 Green: 1 I've changed my mind and now think that Harney's absent landlord bit is going to tell for her in the end. | ||
| Dublin North | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 SP: 1 Green: 1 I now think that Daly will take it. Labour should have found someone younger and earlier to replace Ryan. | ||
| Dublin North Central | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Green: 1 | ||
| Dublin North East | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 | ||
| Dublin North West | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 SF: 1 I think that SF will eat into Labour enough that Tormey could get ahead of Shortall. | ||
| Dublin South | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 Green: 1 Sorry, Liz too inactive and lassiez faire about the whole thing | ||
| Dublin South Central | 5 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 2 SF: 1 | ||
| Dublin South East | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 Green: 1 | ||
| Dublin South West | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 SF: 1 Lenihan to lose out. | ||
| Dublin West | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Others: 1 | ||
| Dun Laoghaire | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 Lab: 1 Green: 1 On a really bad day for FF, Andrews could be at risk. But should just hold on. | ||
| Galway East | 4 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 | ||
| Galway West | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 Lab: 1 Green: 1 | ||
| Kerry North | 3 |
| FG: 1 Lab: 1 SF: 1 | ||
| Kerry South | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 | ||
| Kildare North | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 Others: 1 | ||
| Kildare South | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 | ||
| Laois Offaly | 5 |
| FF: 3 FG: 2 No more Parlon country | ||
| Limerick East | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 Lab: 1 | ||
| Limerick West | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 2 Brennan and Nix to swing it for FG. | ||
| Longford Westmeath | 4 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 Lab: 1 | ||
| Louth | 4 |
| FF: 1 FG: 2 SF: 1 | ||
| Mayo | 5 |
| FF: 1 FG: 3 Others: 1 Cowley will hang on due to transfers from SF, Lab and Greens. That gets him ahead of Bev. | ||
| Meath East | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 1 | ||
| Meath West | 3 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 | ||
| Roscommon Leitrim South | 3 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 | ||
| Sligo Leitrim North | 3 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 | ||
| Tipperay North | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Others: 1 | ||
| Tipperay South | 3 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Others: 1 | ||
| Waterford | 4 |
| FF: 2 FG: 1 Lab: 1 | ||
| Wexford | 5 |
| FF: 2 FG: 2 Lab: 1 | ||
| Wicklow | 5 |
| FF: 1 FG: 1 Lab: 2 Green: 1 |
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Election snippets.
Got handed a "Central News" this morning, for a moment I thought the Flash might wheeze by too. In actuality it turned out to be a Fianna Fail newsheet.
Curious thing is there no moment of Mary Fitzpatrick while there are two pictures of Cyprian Brady. The rest is pure Bertie. I have to wonder what Mary Fitzpatrick did to ould Bertie. I've seen her and Cyprian on the box, and she is head and shoulders above him, to be quite honest with you.
And I thought there was some GAA rule about staying out of politics, there are two clubs featured in this particular freesheet. I recall some GAA diktat a month or two back involving a SF candidate somewhere.
Shane McEntee posters are along the North Circular road/New Cabra road. Not as far afield as those of Michael D. Higgins I guess.
Ivor Callely is making a last minute conversion to being a yellow belly supporter, with loads of posters. None which contain the relevant contact details as per the electoral act.
Curious thing is there no moment of Mary Fitzpatrick while there are two pictures of Cyprian Brady. The rest is pure Bertie. I have to wonder what Mary Fitzpatrick did to ould Bertie. I've seen her and Cyprian on the box, and she is head and shoulders above him, to be quite honest with you.
And I thought there was some GAA rule about staying out of politics, there are two clubs featured in this particular freesheet. I recall some GAA diktat a month or two back involving a SF candidate somewhere.
Shane McEntee posters are along the North Circular road/New Cabra road. Not as far afield as those of Michael D. Higgins I guess.
Ivor Callely is making a last minute conversion to being a yellow belly supporter, with loads of posters. None which contain the relevant contact details as per the electoral act.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Medical advances & waiting times
Cyprian Brady or someone from FF in the last week was talking about how the medical advances were one of the things the government could count amongst their achievements. I've got to say that in my view unless the state was funding or doing the research themselves then I can't see how they can look for credit for them.
And in there lie some interesting tales I'm sure as to where we should be allocating the real credit for reductions in some of the waiting times for some treatments. Taking just one example, we have grown used to seeing the Taoiseach talking up the reduction in waiting times for cardiac patients but would it not be more accurate to suggest that advances in stents for example are the real reason why people have to wait less time for treatment.
And in there lie some interesting tales I'm sure as to where we should be allocating the real credit for reductions in some of the waiting times for some treatments. Taking just one example, we have grown used to seeing the Taoiseach talking up the reduction in waiting times for cardiac patients but would it not be more accurate to suggest that advances in stents for example are the real reason why people have to wait less time for treatment.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Cyprian - to be quite honest with you
Cyprian Brady gave us the "Move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom" moment of the election so far on campaign daily today. Also, his astounding use of the phrase of "to be quite honest with you" 6 times so far, makes me wonder what it is he could be so worried about being caught lying on.
And I thought he was meant to be so much better than Royston?
Update, his final total for "to be quite honest with you" was 8 times.
And I thought he was meant to be so much better than Royston?
Update, his final total for "to be quite honest with you" was 8 times.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Eurovision debacle
Christ it was bad, a really bad song. And RTe are telling us that the ethnic route didn't work on the night for us. Isn't it kind of strange to be portraying ourselves as this land of peasant folk with flowers in our hair to the various countries of Eastern Europe who we are repeatedly view us as some sort of economic totem.
I still think the one from Georgia was just great.
I still think the one from Georgia was just great.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Candidates can't have time for everyone
It might sound awful but I wonder if voters or more particularly those bloggers commenting on the election have unrealistic expectations about what a candidate can and can't do when on a doorstep with them.
Many will doubtless complain about how candidate X doesn't come all the way to their door and debate in detail the key point of aspect of modern life that is doubtless very important to them as a voter. It is not the case that the candidate whoever they may be feels that your issue is unimportant rather the fact that there are literally ten of thousands doors to call on and only so much time in which to do it.
To hammer home my point let's do some exciting maths! Say a candidate spends 5 minutes at each door. That would be 12 doors maximum per hour. Of course you need to allow the candidate some time to walk between the door of one house and the door of another, it might only be 20 secs but for 30 houses that would be ten minutes and for 300 houses it would be an hour and a half. So that's the micro level what about all the houses?
Taking one example I have reasonable knowledge of there are somewhere in the region of 28,000 houses in Dublin North Central. At 5 minutes expended per door, that works out at 140,000 minutes in total (ignore the 20 sec walk time per house) which is just a bit over 2300 hours. That means it would take just under 100 days going at it 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to spend just 5 minutes at each door.
Now we need to consider the needs of those the candidate is calling on. People do not like someone coming to their door before 10am or after 9pm, and you have to allow an hour during the course of the day to get some grub, a bit of rest and to empty the tanks. Also factor in that people are generally none too keen on anyone coming to call after 7pm on a Saturday or at any time on a Sunday and the available hours are reduced even further. So given a more realistic time of 1o hours per day, you would be looking at closer to 300 days to cover all those doors. And yet they have 25 or so days in which to do it.
Truth is the serious candidates will have called to your door before the election was ever called and that would have afforded people the time and the freedom to raise an issue and have a reasonable expectation of it being looked at. Asking candidate X just 2 weeks before polling day to get something in particular done when they have ten of thousands of doors to call on is just plain nuts. And that goes for advocate organisations emailing requests to candidates too especially if said organisation has no means to publicise if the candidate has gotten back to them or not.
Many will doubtless complain about how candidate X doesn't come all the way to their door and debate in detail the key point of aspect of modern life that is doubtless very important to them as a voter. It is not the case that the candidate whoever they may be feels that your issue is unimportant rather the fact that there are literally ten of thousands doors to call on and only so much time in which to do it.
To hammer home my point let's do some exciting maths! Say a candidate spends 5 minutes at each door. That would be 12 doors maximum per hour. Of course you need to allow the candidate some time to walk between the door of one house and the door of another, it might only be 20 secs but for 30 houses that would be ten minutes and for 300 houses it would be an hour and a half. So that's the micro level what about all the houses?
Taking one example I have reasonable knowledge of there are somewhere in the region of 28,000 houses in Dublin North Central. At 5 minutes expended per door, that works out at 140,000 minutes in total (ignore the 20 sec walk time per house) which is just a bit over 2300 hours. That means it would take just under 100 days going at it 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to spend just 5 minutes at each door.
Now we need to consider the needs of those the candidate is calling on. People do not like someone coming to their door before 10am or after 9pm, and you have to allow an hour during the course of the day to get some grub, a bit of rest and to empty the tanks. Also factor in that people are generally none too keen on anyone coming to call after 7pm on a Saturday or at any time on a Sunday and the available hours are reduced even further. So given a more realistic time of 1o hours per day, you would be looking at closer to 300 days to cover all those doors. And yet they have 25 or so days in which to do it.
Truth is the serious candidates will have called to your door before the election was ever called and that would have afforded people the time and the freedom to raise an issue and have a reasonable expectation of it being looked at. Asking candidate X just 2 weeks before polling day to get something in particular done when they have ten of thousands of doors to call on is just plain nuts. And that goes for advocate organisations emailing requests to candidates too especially if said organisation has no means to publicise if the candidate has gotten back to them or not.
The wrong house
I was quite surprised to see a house other than that of the Taoiseach in the Sunday Times reporting of the story about the Taoiseach's recent difficulties. You can tell it isn't the Taoiseach's house because there isn't a Garda hut in front of it.
As you can see the house at the centre of this image. The hut is to the front, or to the right in this image, of the house. and the image used by the Sunday Times had no such hut. And you can also make out the fact there doesn't appear to be a swimming pool or massive gazebo present that might have cost a large sum of money in 90s terms.
I don't think I'm likely to be facilitating terrorists by linking to it. After all the address is being widely reported in the press.
As you can see the house at the centre of this image. The hut is to the front, or to the right in this image, of the house. and the image used by the Sunday Times had no such hut. And you can also make out the fact there doesn't appear to be a swimming pool or massive gazebo present that might have cost a large sum of money in 90s terms.
I don't think I'm likely to be facilitating terrorists by linking to it. After all the address is being widely reported in the press.
Withdrawl now for the PDs is like ...
a young gentleman considering it as a contraceptive option shortly before the child's baptism.
Actually hasn't it been about 9 months since Bertiegate 1?
Actually hasn't it been about 9 months since Bertiegate 1?
Monday, May 07, 2007
"I have no evidence but I think...."
the Taoiseach is guilty of leaking information to draw attention away from FF's disastrous period in government and also he has locked a number of small illegally imported antelopes in his attic. A pretty outrageous thing to suggest in the middle of an election I suspect you would agree. After all I have no evidence to support my allegation, but I like to think I can say it anyway, now where can I find a national news program to say it on?
Truth is I've not saying that at all.
Actually, it was Noel Ahern, brother of the Taoiseach, who made such an allegation against "someone senior in FG" on the main evening news while admitting he has no evidence. Isn't a large part of the basis for FF's protestations and general indignation at the rumours swirling around the Taoiseach that people are judging the Taoiseach in the absence of real evidence? Yet, it is AOK for members of FF to be making allegations while having no evidence at all !
Truth is I've not saying that at all.
Actually, it was Noel Ahern, brother of the Taoiseach, who made such an allegation against "someone senior in FG" on the main evening news while admitting he has no evidence. Isn't a large part of the basis for FF's protestations and general indignation at the rumours swirling around the Taoiseach that people are judging the Taoiseach in the absence of real evidence? Yet, it is AOK for members of FF to be making allegations while having no evidence at all !
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
We have a button
From GreenInkPen, the discerning blogger's pen.
Click below to access the petition
To add the button to your Bebo/Blog/Myspace
Copy and paste the following code:
Support independent living for disabled adults
As some of you might have been aware, I was somewhat enraged to discover that the state is planning to charge disabled adults for living in residential care settings.
So after a weekend in which I suspect I may have calmed down somewhat, I've gotten off my rear and am trying to do something about it.
You can show your support by signing the petition to "Support independent living for disabled adults" and also by raising the issue on the doorstep with all canvassers and candidates.
I am looking at put together a leaflet or a pledge that voters can print off and keep beside their doors and instead of members of the public just receiving literature from candidates perhaps we can give some back and inform them a little bit. Really make politics a real two way street. And I want and would ask that people to do this for candidates of all parties and none. I think everyone contesting the election should be aware of the wrongness of these charges.
Click below to access the petition
And there is a button for your site courtesy of GreenInkPen if you want to demonstrate your support on your site.
So after a weekend in which I suspect I may have calmed down somewhat, I've gotten off my rear and am trying to do something about it.
You can show your support by signing the petition to "Support independent living for disabled adults" and also by raising the issue on the doorstep with all canvassers and candidates.
I am looking at put together a leaflet or a pledge that voters can print off and keep beside their doors and instead of members of the public just receiving literature from candidates perhaps we can give some back and inform them a little bit. Really make politics a real two way street. And I want and would ask that people to do this for candidates of all parties and none. I think everyone contesting the election should be aware of the wrongness of these charges.
Click below to access the petition
And there is a button for your site courtesy of GreenInkPen if you want to demonstrate your support on your site.
To add the button to your Bebo/Blog/Myspace
Copy and paste the following code:
Monday, April 30, 2007
From being the meat in the sandwich to being a secret ingredient
What is this obsession with the PDs and food? Eight months ago McDowell was telling us all that the PDs were the meat in the government sandwich, and now they've been relegated by the same man to being some secret ingredient.
It's not like you could hardly call the meat in your sandwich much of a secret. Unless it was a very small piece of meat, and a flavourless piece lacking in texture at that. Perhaps that is what he was getting at.
It's not like you could hardly call the meat in your sandwich much of a secret. Unless it was a very small piece of meat, and a flavourless piece lacking in texture at that. Perhaps that is what he was getting at.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
More on the clowns
I didn't twig that Una Mullaly is in fact Una of Una Rocks. So I withdraw my comments about giving me a ring if she's single as she decidedly taken to the best of my knowledge.
And the Pelican has been in touch with me by mail since I posted (Christ how much like a line from Batman the TV series does that sound?). Seems the Pelican has only just logged into their account today, and discovered a mail dated last Wednesday from Una querying they have copyright clearance for the video. They were out of the country during the week and not checking mail.
I've done some quick searching and it seems this version of "Send in the clowns" is the Judy Collins recording which was a Warner Brothers release and it seems Warner have a deal with YouTube regard the posting of their music. So it's not clear if separate clearance for a posting of the song on YouTube is required. To the best of my knowledge the clip was constructed for use at an FG conference in 2005, and updated slightly for the 2006 Ard Fheis to include McDowell's remark's about Richard Bruton.
I'm not sure if monies would actually need to changes hands for its use on YouTbue but if it were then it would have to be at a rate comparable to what a radio station might have to pay for playing a single tune to a few thousand people. After all YouTube tracks the number who have played the clip, even if they don't track how many have listened to it in its entirety. So how much would that be? I've tried looking at the IRMA site for some information but there isn't any. Perhaps someone from IRMA can tell us what prices they charge?
And the Pelican has been in touch with me by mail since I posted (Christ how much like a line from Batman the TV series does that sound?). Seems the Pelican has only just logged into their account today, and discovered a mail dated last Wednesday from Una querying they have copyright clearance for the video. They were out of the country during the week and not checking mail.
I've done some quick searching and it seems this version of "Send in the clowns" is the Judy Collins recording which was a Warner Brothers release and it seems Warner have a deal with YouTube regard the posting of their music. So it's not clear if separate clearance for a posting of the song on YouTube is required. To the best of my knowledge the clip was constructed for use at an FG conference in 2005, and updated slightly for the 2006 Ard Fheis to include McDowell's remark's about Richard Bruton.
I'm not sure if monies would actually need to changes hands for its use on YouTbue but if it were then it would have to be at a rate comparable to what a radio station might have to pay for playing a single tune to a few thousand people. After all YouTube tracks the number who have played the clip, even if they don't track how many have listened to it in its entirety. So how much would that be? I've tried looking at the IRMA site for some information but there isn't any. Perhaps someone from IRMA can tell us what prices they charge?
Willie's back!
This weeks Sunday Independent has a column from Willie O'Dea. So he hasn't gone to ground after all . As this edition of the paper is out after the dissolution of the Dail will it come under the Benefit in Kind form of expenditure during the course of the campaign?
As the entire column is an election broadcast for FF so how can anyone claim is this not a form of free advertising which as to be accounted for in his return?
As the entire column is an election broadcast for FF so how can anyone claim is this not a form of free advertising which as to be accounted for in his return?
Send in the clowns - Tribune "attempts" contact.
Strange use of the term 'contact' in the Sunday Tribune today page 11, Una Mullaly writes about the use of copyrighted music in various Youtube clips that political parties and the politically inclined have posted in recent times. She refers in the latter part of her piece to the Send in the Clowns montage piece (we need a montage!.. sorry Team America moment there. I'm all better now). Now there are two main accounts with that clip one of them is mine and the other belongs to someone called BluePelican.
In her piece she says that "The Sunday Tribune contacted the person who posted the video but received no response." I've checked my account this morning and there ain't no mail from the lovely Ms. Mullaly. Of course, if she's single and willing to talk I'm available to talk. The other account which has 2/3 times the hits, and is probably the one she is referring to is BluePelican. I've had a look at Blue Pelican's account on Youtube and the owner hasn't logged into it in 5 months! It's very plain to see if you even glance at their profile.
So I'm not at all sure where the Tribune gets the idea that they have contacted anyone, she would entitled to say that she had attempted to contact the person but failed, however she is not correct to say that she had contacted them.
Its a bit like the local canvassers dropping in the those "Sorry I missed you" cards from politicians when they haven't even ring the doorbell.
I think Richard Delevan who is one of the few people in the DTP on top of the online/webby side of campaigning should have a word with Una about writing stuff that completely undermines the rest of the story. To which there may be some validity.
In her piece she says that "The Sunday Tribune contacted the person who posted the video but received no response." I've checked my account this morning and there ain't no mail from the lovely Ms. Mullaly. Of course, if she's single and willing to talk I'm available to talk. The other account which has 2/3 times the hits, and is probably the one she is referring to is BluePelican. I've had a look at Blue Pelican's account on Youtube and the owner hasn't logged into it in 5 months! It's very plain to see if you even glance at their profile.
So I'm not at all sure where the Tribune gets the idea that they have contacted anyone, she would entitled to say that she had attempted to contact the person but failed, however she is not correct to say that she had contacted them.
Its a bit like the local canvassers dropping in the those "Sorry I missed you" cards from politicians when they haven't even ring the doorbell.
I think Richard Delevan who is one of the few people in the DTP on top of the online/webby side of campaigning should have a word with Una about writing stuff that completely undermines the rest of the story. To which there may be some validity.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Eeffing thieving bastards - you'd actually take money from the disabled?
I read this piece by Fergus Finlay (updated link now in Irish Examiner archive) in in Tuesday's Examiner* and I was positively seething afterwards. I would urge everyone to read Fergus's piece and to raise this on the doorsteps with any and all government reps who will be calling over the coming weeks.
My sister, who is a year, a month and a day younger than me, is intellectually disabled (as if she didn't have enough to put up with being my sister) and lives quite happily in Killarney, in sheltered housing managed by the Kerry Parents and Friends of the Mentally Handicapped who do a fine job trying to ensure that people in Kerry can live as independently and fulfilling a life as possible. Finding a place close to home was a process of years of fighting mainly on the part of my mother dealing with the various bureaucracies of the state, during which she was placed in Devlin, Co. Westmeath, Mayfield Co. Cork, Tralee and now Killarney.
It now appears that the department of health (which has historically dropped the ball on supports for those with disabilities) is planning to implement the same regime of charges for those with disabilities as for the pensioners in residential care. Which means they will charge disabled people for living in residential settings. And charge them out of their disabled person's maintenance allowance. The DPMA is currently €184 per week which is less than an old age non-contributory pension and about the same as the dole. So if you are on the dole, and live away from home the state will pay you a rent supplement but if you make the same attempt to live independently as a disabled person the state will charge you for the pleasure? And, get this, the state is also planning to apply this new regime retrospectively! They are right now sending bills to the parents of people with disabilities looking for back payments. Can you fucking believe it?
You know one of the most stressful things for parents of someone with a disability is the ever present thought of what will happen when you're gone. This is someone that you love with all your heart but you know that unlike your other children who you will also worry about (worrying seeming to be in the very nature of parenting, and is something that you don't realise until you become a parent yourself or see friends become parents) that your disabled won't ever be able to fend for themselves completely and they will always need someone to be looking out for them. And when you're gone you hope that your community will care for them and the state which is the community writ large and the mechanism for expressing that care will do what it can.
I actually genuinely thought that Cowen's efforts, particularly in his budgets , were the sign that the issue of treating people with disabilities fairly, and supporting those organisations that work in the area, was now completely part of the mainstream of Irish political life. I thought despite all the other differences I might have with the guy that here is someone that gets it.
I can tell you now that anyone whether from the revenue or the department of health who tries to take or takes by sleight of hand money from my sister will find me on their door beating their fucking head in with whatever comes to hand. When it comes to my sister I will happily get all Timothy McVeigh on you and your place of work.
As Fergus points out unlike the elderly those with disability will almost certainly never have the chance to be members of the work force and accrue money and assets that might be put into paying for their care. Again, I would urge people to read Fergus's piece he manages to be put it much more than I do.
* The examiner has in the last few years become my alternate to the Irish Times, in large part because you can't depend on the Independent to get the days of the week right.
My sister, who is a year, a month and a day younger than me, is intellectually disabled (as if she didn't have enough to put up with being my sister) and lives quite happily in Killarney, in sheltered housing managed by the Kerry Parents and Friends of the Mentally Handicapped who do a fine job trying to ensure that people in Kerry can live as independently and fulfilling a life as possible. Finding a place close to home was a process of years of fighting mainly on the part of my mother dealing with the various bureaucracies of the state, during which she was placed in Devlin, Co. Westmeath, Mayfield Co. Cork, Tralee and now Killarney.
It now appears that the department of health (which has historically dropped the ball on supports for those with disabilities) is planning to implement the same regime of charges for those with disabilities as for the pensioners in residential care. Which means they will charge disabled people for living in residential settings. And charge them out of their disabled person's maintenance allowance. The DPMA is currently €184 per week which is less than an old age non-contributory pension and about the same as the dole. So if you are on the dole, and live away from home the state will pay you a rent supplement but if you make the same attempt to live independently as a disabled person the state will charge you for the pleasure? And, get this, the state is also planning to apply this new regime retrospectively! They are right now sending bills to the parents of people with disabilities looking for back payments. Can you fucking believe it?
You know one of the most stressful things for parents of someone with a disability is the ever present thought of what will happen when you're gone. This is someone that you love with all your heart but you know that unlike your other children who you will also worry about (worrying seeming to be in the very nature of parenting, and is something that you don't realise until you become a parent yourself or see friends become parents) that your disabled won't ever be able to fend for themselves completely and they will always need someone to be looking out for them. And when you're gone you hope that your community will care for them and the state which is the community writ large and the mechanism for expressing that care will do what it can.
I actually genuinely thought that Cowen's efforts, particularly in his budgets , were the sign that the issue of treating people with disabilities fairly, and supporting those organisations that work in the area, was now completely part of the mainstream of Irish political life. I thought despite all the other differences I might have with the guy that here is someone that gets it.
I can tell you now that anyone whether from the revenue or the department of health who tries to take or takes by sleight of hand money from my sister will find me on their door beating their fucking head in with whatever comes to hand. When it comes to my sister I will happily get all Timothy McVeigh on you and your place of work.
As Fergus points out unlike the elderly those with disability will almost certainly never have the chance to be members of the work force and accrue money and assets that might be put into paying for their care. Again, I would urge people to read Fergus's piece he manages to be put it much more than I do.
* The examiner has in the last few years become my alternate to the Irish Times, in large part because you can't depend on the Independent to get the days of the week right.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The dead vote scenario
I posted last May about the possible problems that the excessive amount of 3 seaters in Ireland and FF's dominance of the 2nd seats in such constituencies could pose were their national vote share drop into the mid 30s in terms of percentages. Well, the national vote share scenario may be coming to pass if the MRBI poll is the trend of things. I would expect a lot of senior FF figures who have been asked to share their territory reneging rapidly on any commitments given.
For all the talk about PR being a fair system and proportionate and that ever vote counts, it is all to often overlooked that some votes end up not amounting to be much at all. People readily forget that in multi seat PR-STV elections that there is a significant chunk of votes that is left in the possession of the last person standing without a seat in 3 seaters.
And with a minimal spread of candidates selected to ensure that there is no leakage of votes outside your own party you could see further problems in getting someone who is on less than 80% of a quota elected, especially if their running mate is elected without much of a surplus. This can be almost 20% of the vote in 3 seaters. In 4 seaters this danger figure could be 16% and in 5 seaters 13.3%. In those constituencies the presence of so many other candidates would tend to mean that you should be able to pick up some votes. However in places like Limerick West, and Cork South West it would mean candidates who did relatively well losing out and those are high targets for FG. More significantly it could cause problems for FF in Donegal North East, and Donegal South West, costing them 2nd seats that their high preferences vote share might have lead people to think were safe.
Essentially if the seal on the drum is too tight not alone won't it leak but it won't let in any water either.
For all the talk about PR being a fair system and proportionate and that ever vote counts, it is all to often overlooked that some votes end up not amounting to be much at all. People readily forget that in multi seat PR-STV elections that there is a significant chunk of votes that is left in the possession of the last person standing without a seat in 3 seaters.
And with a minimal spread of candidates selected to ensure that there is no leakage of votes outside your own party you could see further problems in getting someone who is on less than 80% of a quota elected, especially if their running mate is elected without much of a surplus. This can be almost 20% of the vote in 3 seaters. In 4 seaters this danger figure could be 16% and in 5 seaters 13.3%. In those constituencies the presence of so many other candidates would tend to mean that you should be able to pick up some votes. However in places like Limerick West, and Cork South West it would mean candidates who did relatively well losing out and those are high targets for FG. More significantly it could cause problems for FF in Donegal North East, and Donegal South West, costing them 2nd seats that their high preferences vote share might have lead people to think were safe.
Essentially if the seal on the drum is too tight not alone won't it leak but it won't let in any water either.
In praise of posters
I think too people overreact to the sight of election posters. Maybe it was growing up in town with a big festival (All Hail King Puck) but I quite like the extra colour they bring to most towns. And that goes for all party’s posters. I think that some people are actively seeking out things to be annoyed about. Fair enough to complain when posters obscure road signs or are too low and impede pedestrians and motorists. Other than that I think they are a positive contribution and part of the public aspect of our democracy.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The date of the Irish general election
I believe that Bert will called the election early on Tuesday May 1st, having all the other deputies come back to Dublin for the sitting while the FFers get an extra hour in bed and straight onto the campaign trail. It also means that they don't start the election as they would if they call it this week with the MRBI poll as the first spin of the campaign and it could be a bad one. And the Taoiseach was very insistent about calling it in summer 2007 and the 1st of May is the first day of summer.
After covering myself in such glory with my prediction of the French Presidential election I might be better off keeping my thoughts to myself but sure it is what I reckon will happen.
Oh and the date is probably 24th, but he could even go for the 23rd or 22nd. He did say to Harry McGee that he had never mentioned a Thursday.
After covering myself in such glory with my prediction of the French Presidential election I might be better off keeping my thoughts to myself but sure it is what I reckon will happen.
Oh and the date is probably 24th, but he could even go for the 23rd or 22nd. He did say to Harry McGee that he had never mentioned a Thursday.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Where's Willie?
Strangely, no Willie O'Dea in the Sunday Independent today. Where could he be? Hardly running about taking all these posters like the one to the left with his glorious Leader's name wrong on it could he be?
Or were he and a gang up late into the night removing Noreen Ryan's posters since they don't have anyone's name but her own on them.
Or did my other post touch a nerve at Sunday Independent HQ?
Tim O'Malley and the wife-swapping sodomites
or should that be hill-walking suburbanites? Anyway, junior minister Tim O'Malley has been in the local Limerick Press bemoaning the Labour party's proposal that walking access be granted automatically to land that is not being farmed over 150 metres to hill walkers and their ilk. Strangely, the attack from Tim bemoaned the interests of hill walkers from the suburbs overruling those of rural Ireland. This from a man who comes from and lives in a suburban area of Limerick city.
What makes it all the more odd is that anyone familiar with the lie of the land in Limerick would know that it ain't the most mountainy of places. I had a quick look at my ordnance survey map and barring a few hundred acres of the Slieve Felim mountains (a disputed zone with Tipperary I've been given to understand from my sources with the Premier county regime) there ain't a helluva lot over the suggested height of 150 metres.
So why is a minister complaining about something that isn't going to affect any of his constituents? Perhaps the minister was thinking of the Clare hills which as it turns out are in Clare or maybe he thinks that this is a appropriate topic for him to pronounce on in his capacity as minister for Mental Health. Could he be of the view that hill-walkers are not in the best of mental health irrespective of their physical well-being? Does he think it is grounds for detaining participants for their own well being?
What makes it all the more odd is that anyone familiar with the lie of the land in Limerick would know that it ain't the most mountainy of places. I had a quick look at my ordnance survey map and barring a few hundred acres of the Slieve Felim mountains (a disputed zone with Tipperary I've been given to understand from my sources with the Premier county regime) there ain't a helluva lot over the suggested height of 150 metres.
So why is a minister complaining about something that isn't going to affect any of his constituents? Perhaps the minister was thinking of the Clare hills which as it turns out are in Clare or maybe he thinks that this is a appropriate topic for him to pronounce on in his capacity as minister for Mental Health. Could he be of the view that hill-walkers are not in the best of mental health irrespective of their physical well-being? Does he think it is grounds for detaining participants for their own well being?
French Election Prediction
I dabble in the punditry business from time to time and since the French are having themselves an election to select a new President, and below are my figures. I suspect that support for Sego is weak and Bayrou will surprise by sneaking past her.
Sarkozy - 26%
Sego - 22%
Bayrou - 23%
Le Pen - 18 %
Rest 11%
Time now is 16.15 GMT
Sarkozy - 26%
Sego - 22%
Bayrou - 23%
Le Pen - 18 %
Rest 11%
Time now is 16.15 GMT
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sean Fleming on PrimeTime
A Willie O'Dea for the 21st century? Willie spent years as a backbencher willing and able to try and defend all kinds of government nonsense on behalf of FF, now that he's a minister he can't be doing that sort of thing any more. Well apart from in the Sindo but we've covered that already. However, it seems FF have unearthed a new Willie for a new age, as seen on PrimeTime this evening in the shape of Sean Fleming
Sean found fault with the fact that the FG/Labour plan is dependent on economic performance. Of course it appeared to completely shock him when Richard Bruton reminded him that all such plans and commitments are couched in such language, even the FF plan is dependent on things like growth and the absence of recession. Not that Sean is likely to have read his party's plan. After all when you're a FF backbencher your normal tactic is to promise people whatever they want in the hope that they'll have forgotten about it after the summer.
Sean Fleming then moved on to suggest that the reason for not delivering 200,000 extra full medical cards is down to our economic performance and the fact that not as many people are on social welfare. Yet, if that was the case then why was a number of 200,000 used? Why not say everyone under a a certain income threshold or at a certain percentage of the average industry wage would get a card? They choose the figure of 200,000 and they have to judged on that.
Then he was onto the commitment that all classes for under-9s would be of 20:1 class size. I find it truly bizarre that a government would suggest that the reason for not reaching the class size figure of 20:1 is because of special needs. Was there some explosion of special needs children after 2002 that caught the government unaware? They had been in government for 5 years to that point. Did they not know how many children were in the category of special needs. Of course not, the fact is they never intended on delivering the class size changes. Why? I'm only guessing but what if someone took a look at the nature of the teaching contracts and the allocation of special needs teacher and assistants to schools. I wonder if they would find that their presence is dependent on a certain number of children requiring their assistance. Should those numbers drop then the positions might disappear. Much different to hiring a permanent full time teacher who is assigned to the school for good.
I was a little annoyed (only a little mind) that Katie Hannon, even if she is FF gene pool as she admits herself in her book on the Naked politician, allowed the idea that because most waiting lists for operations are now between 2-5 months that this somehow meets the government promise of 3 months. Also it is worth noting that the clock doesn't start ticking for you being on a waiting list until you see a consultant. So the time you spend between getting sick, seeing your GP and finally seeing a consultant is apparently not waiting at all but some weird kind of limbo. Perhaps someone should get onto the Pope and tell him this is where it ended up!
Sean found fault with the fact that the FG/Labour plan is dependent on economic performance. Of course it appeared to completely shock him when Richard Bruton reminded him that all such plans and commitments are couched in such language, even the FF plan is dependent on things like growth and the absence of recession. Not that Sean is likely to have read his party's plan. After all when you're a FF backbencher your normal tactic is to promise people whatever they want in the hope that they'll have forgotten about it after the summer.
Sean Fleming then moved on to suggest that the reason for not delivering 200,000 extra full medical cards is down to our economic performance and the fact that not as many people are on social welfare. Yet, if that was the case then why was a number of 200,000 used? Why not say everyone under a a certain income threshold or at a certain percentage of the average industry wage would get a card? They choose the figure of 200,000 and they have to judged on that.
Then he was onto the commitment that all classes for under-9s would be of 20:1 class size. I find it truly bizarre that a government would suggest that the reason for not reaching the class size figure of 20:1 is because of special needs. Was there some explosion of special needs children after 2002 that caught the government unaware? They had been in government for 5 years to that point. Did they not know how many children were in the category of special needs. Of course not, the fact is they never intended on delivering the class size changes. Why? I'm only guessing but what if someone took a look at the nature of the teaching contracts and the allocation of special needs teacher and assistants to schools. I wonder if they would find that their presence is dependent on a certain number of children requiring their assistance. Should those numbers drop then the positions might disappear. Much different to hiring a permanent full time teacher who is assigned to the school for good.
I was a little annoyed (only a little mind) that Katie Hannon, even if she is FF gene pool as she admits herself in her book on the Naked politician, allowed the idea that because most waiting lists for operations are now between 2-5 months that this somehow meets the government promise of 3 months. Also it is worth noting that the clock doesn't start ticking for you being on a waiting list until you see a consultant. So the time you spend between getting sick, seeing your GP and finally seeing a consultant is apparently not waiting at all but some weird kind of limbo. Perhaps someone should get onto the Pope and tell him this is where it ended up!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Willie O'Dea - the unanswered questions
Unanswered because it seems no one in the Dead Tree Press is asking them.
I was drawn a fortnight ago to the Minister of Defence Willie O’Dea's entry in the register of Oireachtas members interest. The minister as many people will know has a weekly column in the Sunday Independent. Now, politicians writing the occasional column or making the odd television appearances is not uncommon nor should it be discouraged. However, a weekly column is a platform for promotion of his electoral chances much like any other piece of advertising and it suggests employment. So why is there no reference to this engagement in his return.
The absence to any reference to his column begs the following questions.
Is the minister actually employed on contract my Independent News and Media and is he paid the going rate for this column? – and why is this not listed on his return?
If not then does he pay a market rate for the advertising space he is being given to convey his political message to the public each week?
Those are the only real options.
A senior minister takes up an offer of assistance from a major commercial organisation. An offer that will assist his re-election chances and he then doesn’t declare it in his entry of the register of Oireachtas members’ interests. You would think that this would be headline news, right? Well, while we’ve had the usual prurient interest in who owns how many houses and perhaps the exotic shareholders of some Oireachtas members, there are been no mention of this cosy relationship.
Why is this? It would seem that we have a media that will, rightly in my view, highlight any and all juicy morsels that a TD or Senator may be offered except when the sweetener is from the media itself. The declarations are to inform the public of what interests members have and how they may influence the decisions of Oireachtas members and most especially cabinet members. In the case of Minister Willie O’Dea and Independent News and Media we have a situation where a minister appears to be able to avail of free print space, no favours asked or expected.
In order to cover all the possible forms of inducement the form that members have to return has entries for contracts, gifts or other remuneration. but where is the questioning from our friends in the 4th estate? Could it be that in the case of their own industry that they feel themselves to be outside the intent of the legislation?
The annual focus on share and property ownership in the returns is regarded as good clean voyeurism but free gifts to ministers in the form of print space from media organisations goes to the heart of what the declarations are meant to be about. Exposing the links to and influences from organisations on our paid public representatives.
I suppose it is much better in the public interest to look at who might have a interest in conflict diamonds. That is much more Hollywood.Saturday, April 14, 2007
NUI how to update the register – call the tax man.
Use our PPS/RSI numbers
Now who could possible know where most of these people if they still live in Ireland might be? Why the tax man of course! The revenue has the current address of all taxpayers in the state. Now if the colleges to send on those PPS numbers of graduates to the revenue naturally with the money to cover the cost of one envelope per voter containing a registration form and a prepaid envelope address. Then the revenue could send same to all those PPS/RSI holders they have on record without any concern about a breach of confidentiality. That solves the other side, identifying where people live.
Combine this with automatic registration at graduate ceremonies and we could expect to have an accurate and up to date register instead of the poor condition it is right now. Such measures would increase the registration level from pitiful 30/40% to closer to 90% in my view.
All the information is there in the system it is simply a matter of making best use of it.Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Health Service "Employers" - who day?
I'm often struck by the manipulation of language in modern life. During the current dispute with the nurses, that odd grouping the Health Service Employers have been on the box every once and a while.
Now none of these so called Health Service Employers are actually employers in the real sense of the word. They are more like glorified junior vice presidents. It is the state that pays the salaries for the doctors, nurses and other staff at the hospitals. Whatever boards of management may be left over from the days when the nuns or whoever ran the hospitals aren't involved in employing the staff. We employ those working in the health service and we appoint a government every once in a while to run it on our behalf.
Also on the nurses dispute you'd swear from the HSE that there had never been a operation or procedure cancelled or delayed prior to the nurses dispute starting. Thing again strangely the INO isn't saying much about that either.
Now none of these so called Health Service Employers are actually employers in the real sense of the word. They are more like glorified junior vice presidents. It is the state that pays the salaries for the doctors, nurses and other staff at the hospitals. Whatever boards of management may be left over from the days when the nuns or whoever ran the hospitals aren't involved in employing the staff. We employ those working in the health service and we appoint a government every once in a while to run it on our behalf.
Also on the nurses dispute you'd swear from the HSE that there had never been a operation or procedure cancelled or delayed prior to the nurses dispute starting. Thing again strangely the INO isn't saying much about that either.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Declaration of Oireachtas members interests
Get them while they are hot.
Dail members Seanad Members
I would say that Willie O'Dea has a question over his form.
There is a remarkable (hence my remarking on it) lack of consistency about this, some reps list their Dail income as occupational income many others don’t are they supposed to or not? I’m kind of surprised that so few own shares in anything. Maybe it is a generational thing. Though it may be that they are only required to do so if it exceeds a certain amount.
Some like Joe Costello list their SSIA while the majority appear not to list them. (I can’t imagine that the vast majority of TDs didn’t take out an SSIA)
Tony Dempsey has an apartment in Cypress (sic)! CyriUsLee! Does anyone check this record properly? I mean I recall reading the local elections expenditure reports filed with Dublin City Council and we had barefaced falsehoods such as Maurice Ahern brother of the Taoiseach saying his total spending was €750, that is on his entire election campaign. That is non-binding as I understand it meanwhile the register of Dail interests in a meant to be proper track of what people have and there is no consistency to the thing at all.
John Ellis, says he has no shares in excess of 13,000 (that is individually I take it) but his colleague Martin Brady lists the €8,400 in shares he has in the credit union. If these guys can’t fill in a form on their own interests properly then what use might they be to the average punter in helping them navigate the bureaucracy of the state.
Michael McDowell who lists below interests in 4 properties doesn’t seem to list his holiday home down the country in Roscommon that had the planning issues a while back - could be he sold it. Or is it an oversight?
"(1) Half interest as tenant in common of land adjoining home in Ranelagh. (2) 9 Manders Terrace, Dublin 6. (3) 10% interest in block in Eastpoint Office Park, Dublin 1. (4) 33 Old Bond Street, London (part ownership).
Other Information Provided: All owned jointly with spouse. "
Willie O’Dea lists nothing under either Occupational Income or Gifts or Property and Service or Remunerated Position or Contracts. So is his column in the Sindo for free and it isn’t advertising? Surely that has to be counted as a gift in either a free national mouthpiece or something he is paid for?
Dail members Seanad Members
I would say that Willie O'Dea has a question over his form.
There is a remarkable (hence my remarking on it) lack of consistency about this, some reps list their Dail income as occupational income many others don’t are they supposed to or not? I’m kind of surprised that so few own shares in anything. Maybe it is a generational thing. Though it may be that they are only required to do so if it exceeds a certain amount.
Some like Joe Costello list their SSIA while the majority appear not to list them. (I can’t imagine that the vast majority of TDs didn’t take out an SSIA)
Tony Dempsey has an apartment in Cypress (sic)! CyriUsLee! Does anyone check this record properly? I mean I recall reading the local elections expenditure reports filed with Dublin City Council and we had barefaced falsehoods such as Maurice Ahern brother of the Taoiseach saying his total spending was €750, that is on his entire election campaign. That is non-binding as I understand it meanwhile the register of Dail interests in a meant to be proper track of what people have and there is no consistency to the thing at all.
John Ellis, says he has no shares in excess of 13,000 (that is individually I take it) but his colleague Martin Brady lists the €8,400 in shares he has in the credit union. If these guys can’t fill in a form on their own interests properly then what use might they be to the average punter in helping them navigate the bureaucracy of the state.
Michael McDowell who lists below interests in 4 properties doesn’t seem to list his holiday home down the country in Roscommon that had the planning issues a while back - could be he sold it. Or is it an oversight?
"(1) Half interest as tenant in common of land adjoining home in Ranelagh. (2) 9 Manders Terrace, Dublin 6. (3) 10% interest in block in Eastpoint Office Park, Dublin 1. (4) 33 Old Bond Street, London (part ownership).
Other Information Provided: All owned jointly with spouse. "
Willie O’Dea lists nothing under either Occupational Income or Gifts or Property and Service or Remunerated Position or Contracts. So is his column in the Sindo for free and it isn’t advertising? Surely that has to be counted as a gift in either a free national mouthpiece or something he is paid for?
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
New PD Leader Poster Revealed
Or as Captain Flashhard might say "Slack Bowel". The other advice must be to avoid a dose of Chris Andrews as he might cause you to "throw it all away" out your rear.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
This gets weirder and weirder
According to the Indo today "Senior TDs say the party will not "do a Fianna Fail" by pledging the sun, moon and stars in Enda Kenny's keynote speech to its ard fheis tomorrow night." The whole article is here
The really odd thing is this little item from my local election campaign in 2004.
If someone happens to say "We're looking out for everyone not just No.1" I'm going to taking to my bed for the rest of the weekend. Proof, it was needed I was fighting one election ahead of everyone else!
The really odd thing is this little item from my local election campaign in 2004.
If someone happens to say "We're looking out for everyone not just No.1" I'm going to taking to my bed for the rest of the weekend. Proof, it was needed I was fighting one election ahead of everyone else!
Would I lie to you?
After weeks of telling us that auction politics is bad for us the Taoiseach gave us a big dollop of the bad stuff last Saturday night. Tax cuts and spending commitments galore even if many of them are reheated from 2002 and even 1997 in some cases.
Of course he mentioned absolutely no time frame for the increases or whether or not any change in economic conditions would cause the whole lot to be reneged on.
It is like visiting your in-laws who are telling you not to eat fatty food, and then they give you a huge sticky gateau for dinner. No meat, no veg, just cake. Let's take a look at the main ones in detail.
2% off PRSI: Does the Taoiseach even know what is the difference between PRSI and income tax? PRSI is meant to fund pension and social insurance related, meanwhile the party suggested they would increase €300 per week, how do they plan to fund it? And how does this link up with Seamus Brennan's comments about perhaps having mandatory pensions
And he didn't mention if employers PRSI contributions will have to increase to compensate. Can't see that as going down well with employers.
Index linking: This would be most welcome but why did his government not do that for the first 3 years of this term? And the link to increases in "wages"? What does that meant exactly. How is that measured? Is it linked to the levels in the national agreements? How does that link to the private sector? Or is it linked to the price of a haircut?
Doubling Ph.D graduates: Really? You can commit to double the numbers in the intake but you can't guarantee the output unless the government is going to go crazy with grade inflation as well as everything else.
Pensions up to €300 per week: If inflation averages 5% per year then more than half of that increase will mean nothing to pensioners as it is eating up by general price increases. And what about heating and fuel costs? If the government had committed to program of grants for changing the heating sources to renewable sources for older people who frankly need the heat. And it would reduce the cost to them of heating in the winter.
I suspect that FF strangely have walked lock, stock and barrel into a trap. Either they lied to the media, and a media that is still smarting from
So, they lied to us for the last few weeks and they lied to the press, they lied And somehow we're meant to believe them now? Who would believe them now? The FF manifesto is One lie too many.
It is all one big lie too many. When the FF party campaigned in 2002 they said things they knew were not true, those aren't just broken promises they were in fact lies. They knew then, and we know it now. The promises from last weekend were again lies.
And who would believe them now?
Of course he mentioned absolutely no time frame for the increases or whether or not any change in economic conditions would cause the whole lot to be reneged on.
It is like visiting your in-laws who are telling you not to eat fatty food, and then they give you a huge sticky gateau for dinner. No meat, no veg, just cake. Let's take a look at the main ones in detail.
2% off PRSI: Does the Taoiseach even know what is the difference between PRSI and income tax? PRSI is meant to fund pension and social insurance related, meanwhile the party suggested they would increase €300 per week, how do they plan to fund it? And how does this link up with Seamus Brennan's comments about perhaps having mandatory pensions
And he didn't mention if employers PRSI contributions will have to increase to compensate. Can't see that as going down well with employers.
Index linking: This would be most welcome but why did his government not do that for the first 3 years of this term? And the link to increases in "wages"? What does that meant exactly. How is that measured? Is it linked to the levels in the national agreements? How does that link to the private sector? Or is it linked to the price of a haircut?
Doubling Ph.D graduates: Really? You can commit to double the numbers in the intake but you can't guarantee the output unless the government is going to go crazy with grade inflation as well as everything else.
Pensions up to €300 per week: If inflation averages 5% per year then more than half of that increase will mean nothing to pensioners as it is eating up by general price increases. And what about heating and fuel costs? If the government had committed to program of grants for changing the heating sources to renewable sources for older people who frankly need the heat. And it would reduce the cost to them of heating in the winter.
I suspect that FF strangely have walked lock, stock and barrel into a trap. Either they lied to the media, and a media that is still smarting from
So, they lied to us for the last few weeks and they lied to the press, they lied And somehow we're meant to believe them now? Who would believe them now? The FF manifesto is One lie too many.
It is all one big lie too many. When the FF party campaigned in 2002 they said things they knew were not true, those aren't just broken promises they were in fact lies. They knew then, and we know it now. The promises from last weekend were again lies.
And who would believe them now?
Provenance of FG General Election Slogan
Christ, I'm either totally prescient or I really need to set myself up as a political consultant as soon as possible. About 2 years ago I had a conversation with someone who will remain nameless for the time being and said the key message in what we should have in a slogan was "for a change" and I sent the below in a mail (which I still have a copy of) as a follow up showing how the language should be used and progressively shortened as that time went on to build resonance over time. So, the first part was to be used 6 months out, the second 3 months, and the last one in the campaign itself.
- Just thought I'd remind you of my catchy slogan for the general. Of course, if it's catchy enough you really shouldn't need reminding!
"Isn't it time it was your choice for a change?"
"Time it was your choice for a change?"
"Your choice for a change."
Fact is that without FG there will be no change in government. It has the added advantage that you can shorten it for use in different contexts. And it is also very applicable to the issues that are driving rip-off and so on in that we lack real choice in sourcing services. -
Now have a look see at the picture from FG launch event for the Ard Fheis. Here if you have an IT subs.
I'm just hoping that FG didn't go and pay some crowd of consultants actual cash money to come up with a slogan that I actually gave them just under 2 years ago.
There again the slogan is that obvious in many ways that it could have come from anywhere, hence my thoughts about my prescient. I'm going to have to do the lotto this weekend. Oh, and tomorrow the Swallows shall slay the Dragons. Yatta!
- Just thought I'd remind you of my catchy slogan for the general. Of course, if it's catchy enough you really shouldn't need reminding!
"Isn't it time it was your choice for a change?"
"Time it was your choice for a change?"
"Your choice for a change."
Fact is that without FG there will be no change in government. It has the added advantage that you can shorten it for use in different contexts. And it is also very applicable to the issues that are driving rip-off and so on in that we lack real choice in sourcing services. -
Now have a look see at the picture from FG launch event for the Ard Fheis. Here if you have an IT subs.
I'm just hoping that FG didn't go and pay some crowd of consultants actual cash money to come up with a slogan that I actually gave them just under 2 years ago.
There again the slogan is that obvious in many ways that it could have come from anywhere, hence my thoughts about my prescient. I'm going to have to do the lotto this weekend. Oh, and tomorrow the Swallows shall slay the Dragons. Yatta!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
More on the N7
I was struck by the comments in the Indo today from Evelyn Moles on the death of her sister Kate in the pile up on the N7. While she pleads with other motorists to slow and drive appropriate to the conditions in future, she is then quoted saying her sister's death could have been avoided if appropriate systems and signage were in place. It may be the paper putting words in her mouth. Full paragraph below.
"Evelyn said Kate's death could have been avoided if appropriate systems and signage had been put in place on our roads. "The Government and individual TDs need to show some leadership and put the proper systems in place that will help put an end to tragedies like this affecting families again and again.""
I'm not sure that signage was going to prevent this accident from happening. I agree that our motorway and dual carriageway system is lacking in the signage that you would find in most other European countries, but all the signs in world can't force you to ease the foot off the accelerator. Sad truth is if you hit something from the rear, cruel as it may be, you are deemed to have been at fault unless you were yourself rear ended. It seems from the early reports that pretty much everyone was going faster than they should have been on the N7 and were too close to the vehicles in front. Meaning they didn't give themselves time to react to what occurred in front of them.
As things on the road that you may come across go a fire engine is probably the brightest and loudest. If you hit a fire engine from the rear then you were almost certainly going too fast for the conditions. It is a horrible, sad waste of a young life and all the more sad for the fact that it would never have happened if she (along with everyone else) had been going that bit slower as the road conditions required on the day. I'm sure we'll see the usual lack of attention from the media when the inquests are held and the full details come out.
"Evelyn said Kate's death could have been avoided if appropriate systems and signage had been put in place on our roads. "The Government and individual TDs need to show some leadership and put the proper systems in place that will help put an end to tragedies like this affecting families again and again.""
I'm not sure that signage was going to prevent this accident from happening. I agree that our motorway and dual carriageway system is lacking in the signage that you would find in most other European countries, but all the signs in world can't force you to ease the foot off the accelerator. Sad truth is if you hit something from the rear, cruel as it may be, you are deemed to have been at fault unless you were yourself rear ended. It seems from the early reports that pretty much everyone was going faster than they should have been on the N7 and were too close to the vehicles in front. Meaning they didn't give themselves time to react to what occurred in front of them.
As things on the road that you may come across go a fire engine is probably the brightest and loudest. If you hit a fire engine from the rear then you were almost certainly going too fast for the conditions. It is a horrible, sad waste of a young life and all the more sad for the fact that it would never have happened if she (along with everyone else) had been going that bit slower as the road conditions required on the day. I'm sure we'll see the usual lack of attention from the media when the inquests are held and the full details come out.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Why stamp duty matters
What seems to have been missed by Cowen and other FF ministers who have chosen to defend the current stamp duty system is that those buying houses have to find the money to pay it from their deposit savings. The money to pay for the stamp duty comes out of your savings not the mortgage. So you if you're bidding on a house which many in the 2nd hand market the price can easily move from one threshold to another. Of course, the minister and the revenue know this which is why the bands from 190,000 to 382,000 move through 5 bands while the next doubling of value involves just one jump.
It might surprise the minister for finance but you're not getting squat in Dublin for under €317,500 these day. So first time buyer or not, if you've saved €32,000 as a deposit and then when you bid on a house and it goes over 317,500 you have to find another €9,525 cash in order to pay for the house. That is a lot of cash to come up with.
Of course the minister is strangely content to force young couples to move out to Meath, Kildare, Wicklow into new estates as it benefits the building industry. The fact that it means new schools have to be built and old ones in more central areas have to demolished is also good for builders.
These are the current bands.
It might surprise the minister for finance but you're not getting squat in Dublin for under €317,500 these day. So first time buyer or not, if you've saved €32,000 as a deposit and then when you bid on a house and it goes over 317,500 you have to find another €9,525 cash in order to pay for the house. That is a lot of cash to come up with.
Of course the minister is strangely content to force young couples to move out to Meath, Kildare, Wicklow into new estates as it benefits the building industry. The fact that it means new schools have to be built and old ones in more central areas have to demolished is also good for builders.
These are the current bands.
| €127,001 - €190,500 | Exempt | 3% |
| €190,501 - €254,000 | Exempt | 4% |
| €254,001 - €317,500 | Exempt | 5% |
| €317,501 - €381,000 | 3% | 6% |
| €381,001 - €635,000 | 6% | 7.5% |
| Over €635,000 | 9% | 9% |
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
N7 road accidents: "The scene resembled ’a war zone’"
The unfolding disaster on the N7 has got to see a rethink of the culture of driving in Ireland. 40 collisions on the one stretch of road in the matter of a few hours can't be described as anything but a disaster. I hope that those in a critical condition pull through and those seriously injured aren't too badly hurt.
However, we need to be honest enough with ourselves to ask the hard questions as to whether we have properly functioning warnings for the presence of fog on the route and to what extent driver behaviour was at fault.
The speed limit is the maximum you are supposed to drive at if the conditions are perfect. It is not an entitlement.
However, we need to be honest enough with ourselves to ask the hard questions as to whether we have properly functioning warnings for the presence of fog on the route and to what extent driver behaviour was at fault.
The speed limit is the maximum you are supposed to drive at if the conditions are perfect. It is not an entitlement.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Cowen's knowledge of the housing market
I think it was informative to listen to Brian Cowen on Saturday suggesting that Fine Gael's stamp duty proposals would be some sort of Godzilla to the Irish housing market. It might have occurred to Cowen to tell this to his colleague McDowell who was the one to put the skids under the market last autumn. Cowen devoted quite a while to explain why people won't buy houses because 3 years from now! because the stamp duty would be less.
It might have slipped by Cowen's notice but people have to live somewhere in the interim period if they were to hold off buying their house and that money they pay out in rent isn't going into the equity of their house unlike what their mortgage payments would be. Telling people in advance what the government are going to do aids stability in the market, uncertainty as to what the government is going to do is what causes destabilisation.
The real people Cowen was concerned about and who might decide to hold off on buying houses was not owner occupiers but investors. FF concern about housing is more at needs of the suppliers who provide so much funding for the party and not the average Seamus and Joan looking for a home.
Of course, Cowen told us that the proposals smacked of people who had no knowledge of how the housing market worked. Well, Cowen's primary knowledge of the housing market is based on his experience as a solicitor and that would have been doing conveyancing, a field that was insisting on charging a set % fee of the purchase similar to estate agents (and how the stamp duty system operates today) despite there being no extra work involved in a €150,000 house than in a €300,000 one. Nice work if you can get it.
It might have slipped by Cowen's notice but people have to live somewhere in the interim period if they were to hold off buying their house and that money they pay out in rent isn't going into the equity of their house unlike what their mortgage payments would be. Telling people in advance what the government are going to do aids stability in the market, uncertainty as to what the government is going to do is what causes destabilisation.
The real people Cowen was concerned about and who might decide to hold off on buying houses was not owner occupiers but investors. FF concern about housing is more at needs of the suppliers who provide so much funding for the party and not the average Seamus and Joan looking for a home.
Of course, Cowen told us that the proposals smacked of people who had no knowledge of how the housing market worked. Well, Cowen's primary knowledge of the housing market is based on his experience as a solicitor and that would have been doing conveyancing, a field that was insisting on charging a set % fee of the purchase similar to estate agents (and how the stamp duty system operates today) despite there being no extra work involved in a €150,000 house than in a €300,000 one. Nice work if you can get it.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The new National Consumer Affairs Office
I caught the end of Prime Time last night: BSG is on the same time and frankly I need to the distraction - the final five who could they be?
Have to I was very, very disappointed by the self satisfied performance of Aine Fitzgerald the new head of the National Consumer Agency (NCA). She was asked several times by Miriam O'Callaghan why she thought she would be able to do something about rip offs and she claimed that having a budget of €15 million and powers of "research" would do the trick. Research eh! Didn't sound like she had any inclination of using powers that might any way inconvenience rip off merchants across the country.
I remember watching Carmel Foley who was at the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs the predecessor to the NCA tackling the insurance and legal sectors when she was tasked with finding a means to reduce the costs of car insurance in Ireland and I was really impressed by her. Here was someone who was tenacious and focused and had no time for waffling. It was her work and not the political waffle of McDowell that led to the creation of the establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. Sadly she is since off to somewhere else in the state sector the Garda Ombudsman's office I think. Our gain from the perspective of a well run police force but our loss as consumers.
Have to I was very, very disappointed by the self satisfied performance of Aine Fitzgerald the new head of the National Consumer Agency (NCA). She was asked several times by Miriam O'Callaghan why she thought she would be able to do something about rip offs and she claimed that having a budget of €15 million and powers of "research" would do the trick. Research eh! Didn't sound like she had any inclination of using powers that might any way inconvenience rip off merchants across the country.
I remember watching Carmel Foley who was at the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs the predecessor to the NCA tackling the insurance and legal sectors when she was tasked with finding a means to reduce the costs of car insurance in Ireland and I was really impressed by her. Here was someone who was tenacious and focused and had no time for waffling. It was her work and not the political waffle of McDowell that led to the creation of the establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. Sadly she is since off to somewhere else in the state sector the Garda Ombudsman's office I think. Our gain from the perspective of a well run police force but our loss as consumers.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sarah Carey - I've got a bone to pick with you!
In her Sunday Times column Sarah Carey revisits the issue of coverage of the Monaghan car crash of last October. She starts off by talking about the lack of coverage that inquests get as compared to the incidents themselves. Strange thing I had posted specifically on the issue of the lack of coverage of inquests last October as part of Damien Blakes efforts to get something together under the technorati label of roadsafetyblog. And I'd commented on the same specific subject in Sarah's own post which she posted a week later on the topic back in November. Now, it's not plagiarism by any means but I've been getting a little more thin skinned of late when folks repeat things I've said or posted whether on the blog or elsewhere as if it was an idea that had popped fully formed into their heads. I suspect that the youtube article in the ST hasn't helped my perspective either.
Sadly this Paddy's weekend has seen yet more road deaths, five in Donegal alone. Of course at this time we can't know what caused each of these deaths and what factors were at play. However, it is likely that when it comes around to the inquests and as the causes are uncovered that discussion in the DeadTreePress will be noticeable again by its absence.
Sadly this Paddy's weekend has seen yet more road deaths, five in Donegal alone. Of course at this time we can't know what caused each of these deaths and what factors were at play. However, it is likely that when it comes around to the inquests and as the causes are uncovered that discussion in the DeadTreePress will be noticeable again by its absence.
Slightly miffed at the Sunday Times
I'm sort of miffed today at the Sunday Times and Mark Tighe. Mark's piece about the use of youtube by the PDs and the upcoming election appears to be a piece of advertising for the PDs use of YouTube. My own piece " You pay taxes" has had 4 times the traffic that the PD's A Vision for Ireland and was nominated for a Blog Award but doesn't rate a mention.
Richard Delevan and I had a discussion about the issue of election spending limits and the use of Youtube back on Jan 2nd of this year in the comments on his post on negative advertising. Basically, the big cost will be on the production side. And I agree with the comments of Simon McGarr that the contributions of Ciaran Cuffe and Dominic Hannigan are the most effective examples of the format. Short, frequent and focused. Long wandering sagas just bore people.
There again I spent the whole of Paddy's Day doing battle with the flu using the heavy artillery of Lemsip Max so that might be affecting my humour.
Richard Delevan and I had a discussion about the issue of election spending limits and the use of Youtube back on Jan 2nd of this year in the comments on his post on negative advertising. Basically, the big cost will be on the production side. And I agree with the comments of Simon McGarr that the contributions of Ciaran Cuffe and Dominic Hannigan are the most effective examples of the format. Short, frequent and focused. Long wandering sagas just bore people.
There again I spent the whole of Paddy's Day doing battle with the flu using the heavy artillery of Lemsip Max so that might be affecting my humour.
Beyond Stamp Duty
The proposals to attempt to reform the current stamp duty regime released by FG during the previous week drew some rather arched criticism from of all people the PDs. This is all very ironic as there is increasing evidence that it was McDowell's thinking aloud exercise that has provided the trigger to the general destabilisation of the housing market. It seems a sufficient number of people started to postpone purchases in the aftermath of his comments because they believed that something might happen in the budget and then when it didn't they've continued to hold off because they are now convinced something might happen after the election.
The key difference is that FG proposals would take affect in a planned, heavily signposted manner over the course of 3 years and announcing it within weeks of the general election are not going to put the brakes on the housing market. As others would point out being the leader of a party requires a completely different set of skills to being a leading figure in a party. This means to be something that McDowell appears to have failed to grasp as yet. And it remains to be seen with the election in the next two months if he will ever get the chance to learn it.
I'm going to do a follow up post on my own view of where we should go with stamp duty, local taxes and other fun topics.
The key difference is that FG proposals would take affect in a planned, heavily signposted manner over the course of 3 years and announcing it within weeks of the general election are not going to put the brakes on the housing market. As others would point out being the leader of a party requires a completely different set of skills to being a leading figure in a party. This means to be something that McDowell appears to have failed to grasp as yet. And it remains to be seen with the election in the next two months if he will ever get the chance to learn it.
I'm going to do a follow up post on my own view of where we should go with stamp duty, local taxes and other fun topics.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Intruder alert at the white House - Stifler and the Taoiseach!
I was watching the RTe news and noticed that they were reporting that there had been a security breach at the White House when Bertie was giving Bush the ould bowl of Shamrock. Personally, my respect for Batty would have gone up if he had had a go at Bush for coming out with that "Top of the morning", nonsense. I daren't imagine what Bush says as a greeting to Condaleeza Rice when she comes into work.
Anyway, after the giving of the green, the Ahern double act was talking to the press in some hallway or alcove when I realised that in the background was the Stiflermeister himself. In the top shot you can see him clearly, and in the second shot he is clear asking where are all the red haired Irish Catholic females he had been promised.
RTE cock up chip and PIN demo
RTE were covering the changeover to Chip and PIN that kicks in from tomorrow on the 6.1 news, and I happened to notice in their demonstration of how you use the card that they actually put the hologram into the chip read and not the chip side of the Credit Card.
See here - >
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Another driving inquest
You can get Irish Times coverage or from the Irish Independent
This crash happened outside Dundalk in last of May of last year (2006). The car wasn't fit to drive, the ABS didn't work and the back tyres were worn and they were doing 90kph in a 50 kph zone at night (3am) when visibility wasn't going to be great.
From the report "In returning a verdict of accidental death, the jury said it felt that had the ABS been working properly, there could have been a different outcome. It added that an inaccurate press release had caused undue grief to both families. A forensic collision investigator told the jury in Dundalk on Monday that the anti-lock braking system was not working and he estimated Mr Hoey had been driving at 90kph at least within a 50kph zone. The jury heard that the back two tyres of Mr Hoey's car were excessively worn and that the car was unfit for use."
So another pair of deaths that were tragically avoidable.
This crash happened outside Dundalk in last of May of last year (2006). The car wasn't fit to drive, the ABS didn't work and the back tyres were worn and they were doing 90kph in a 50 kph zone at night (3am) when visibility wasn't going to be great.
From the report "In returning a verdict of accidental death, the jury said it felt that had the ABS been working properly, there could have been a different outcome. It added that an inaccurate press release had caused undue grief to both families. A forensic collision investigator told the jury in Dundalk on Monday that the anti-lock braking system was not working and he estimated Mr Hoey had been driving at 90kph at least within a 50kph zone. The jury heard that the back two tyres of Mr Hoey's car were excessively worn and that the car was unfit for use."
So another pair of deaths that were tragically avoidable.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Did any of you lot ever have to make something for a living?
I was watching Mary Coughlan on Q&A this week and since I'm of roughly a similar vintage to Mary it struck me when she was talking about upskilling and the knowledge based economy that she's never really had to do any of those things herself. And not just her. Just look at the work background of the members of the cabinet since 2002.
Bertie Ahern - Bertie was a book keeper for the Mater before become a TD.
Mary Harney - was very briefly a secondary school teacher between her gradution in 1976 and her appointment to the Seanad by Jack Lynch in 1977.
Michael McDowell - a barrister since 1974. Not a lot of make and do in the old law library.
Mary Coughlan - Very briefly worked as a social worker after college before taking her seat in a bye election.
John O'Donoghue - A local solicitor
Dermot Ahern - A local solicitor
Brian Cowen - A local solicitor
Noel Dempsey - Career guidance teacher
Mary Hanafin - secondary school teacher
Micheál Martin - secondary school teacher.
Séamus Brennan - an accountant
Martin Cullen - worked as a sales manager for a wine company. Seriously a wine company!
Dick Roche - Masters Degree in Public Administration. Roche worked as a public servant at the Departments of Posts & Telegraphs, Transport & Power, Finance and at the Department of Economic Planning & Development. In 1978 he was appointed lecturer in Public Administration and Public Finance at UCD. A man so wedded to being a public servant it is hard to imagine him ever having to make something himself.
Willie O'Dea - O'Dea worked as a barrister and an accountant, and lectured at University College Dublin and the University of Limerick well really NIHE Limerick.
Charlie McCreevy - did Commerce at University College Dublin and went on to become a chartered accountant
Éamon Ó Cuív - was manager of Gaeltacht Co-operative, a company involved in agricultural services including timber milling, tourism and cultural development.
Michael Smith - Farmer, so at least he knows something about getting his hands dirty.
Joe Walsh - Walsh was a researcher in the National Dairy Research Centre at Moorepark and ended up as Managing Director of Strand Dairies in Clonakilty.
So it is only the last 3 that actually know what it is like to make or produce something for a living. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Bertie Ahern - Bertie was a book keeper for the Mater before become a TD.
Mary Harney - was very briefly a secondary school teacher between her gradution in 1976 and her appointment to the Seanad by Jack Lynch in 1977.
Michael McDowell - a barrister since 1974. Not a lot of make and do in the old law library.
Mary Coughlan - Very briefly worked as a social worker after college before taking her seat in a bye election.
John O'Donoghue - A local solicitor
Dermot Ahern - A local solicitor
Brian Cowen - A local solicitor
Noel Dempsey - Career guidance teacher
Mary Hanafin - secondary school teacher
Micheál Martin - secondary school teacher.
Séamus Brennan - an accountant
Martin Cullen - worked as a sales manager for a wine company. Seriously a wine company!
Dick Roche - Masters Degree in Public Administration. Roche worked as a public servant at the Departments of Posts & Telegraphs, Transport & Power, Finance and at the Department of Economic Planning & Development. In 1978 he was appointed lecturer in Public Administration and Public Finance at UCD. A man so wedded to being a public servant it is hard to imagine him ever having to make something himself.
Willie O'Dea - O'Dea worked as a barrister and an accountant, and lectured at University College Dublin and the University of Limerick well really NIHE Limerick.
Charlie McCreevy - did Commerce at University College Dublin and went on to become a chartered accountant
Éamon Ó Cuív - was manager of Gaeltacht Co-operative, a company involved in agricultural services including timber milling, tourism and cultural development.
Michael Smith - Farmer, so at least he knows something about getting his hands dirty.
Joe Walsh - Walsh was a researcher in the National Dairy Research Centre at Moorepark and ended up as Managing Director of Strand Dairies in Clonakilty.
So it is only the last 3 that actually know what it is like to make or produce something for a living. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Harney caught at press launch by voter
On the TV3 news yesterday we had what might have been an early contender for one the moments of the as yet undeclared election campaign. Harney was challenged at the luanch of the latest PD campaign truck/poster on the state of A&E by an voter the lack of any paediatric immunology cover in Ireland. It was on the 5.30pm TV3 news. Sadly, TV3 don't stream or archive their news nor do they do a late night news or I would have recorded it then.
It is reminiscent of this moment for Blair in 2001, not quite as damaging perhaps but a sign of the times for Harney
http://news.bbc.co.uk/vote2001/hi/english/newsid_1334000/1334131.stm
Strangly no one else covered it or showed the footage though I'm pretty sure RTe had cameras there. I suspect we may see more of this in the rest of the campaign.
It is reminiscent of this moment for Blair in 2001, not quite as damaging perhaps but a sign of the times for Harney
http://news.bbc.co.uk/vote2001/hi/english/newsid_1334000/1334131.stm
Strangly no one else covered it or showed the footage though I'm pretty sure RTe had cameras there. I suspect we may see more of this in the rest of the campaign.
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