Any chance of Equality Budgeting, Minister?
In July, I asked Minister Brendan Howlin whether he has considered any of the proposals in the Equality Budgeting Submission I sent him last year, and whether he would provide a distributional analysis of the proposed budgetary measures to Dail Eireann, before budgets are passed. Equality Budgeting is an approach to economic policy-making that uses...
Can the Oireachtas learn from past mistakes?
The very mistake made in setting up the Banking Inquiry is the same one that allowed the banking collapse happen in the first place. Ironic, and very dangerous. If we’re to avoid another crisis in a few years’ time, the Establishment must be able to learn from its own mistakes – something it has resisted...
Politically expedient, cynical pretend reform
I spoke on the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill which the Government is calling an “ambitious programme of Government reform to deliver fundamental change in democratic and public governance in Ireland.” I’m calling it a sop. It’s politically expedient, cynical pretend reform. It will still see almost €16m in state funding paid mostly...
How can we improve the Charities Act?
Last week I spoke about a Sinn Fein motion to improve the Charities Act by providing a deadline for the setting up of a regulator and adding the advancement of human rights as a charitable purpose. The Government, sadly, did not support the bill, but it did promise to have a regulator in place by...
Who should be exempt from Freedom of Information?
Myself and Minister Brendan Howlin discuss the need for exemptions in the new Freedom of Information legislation. I’m not sure why exemptions are needed given that the legislation also covers commercial sensitivity, so I asked the Minister. His answers offered little clarity.
Who needs international expert opinions?
I asked Enda Kenny what he made of the international expert opinion that was scathing about the Government’s proposed Freedom of Information Legislation. The Taoiseach wasn’t convinced of their bona fides, but here’s what some of them had to say: ARTICLE 19, a Human Rights organisation that focusses on FOI: ARTICLE 19 strongly opposes the...
