Category: Politics & Culture

Stamp Duty

Fianna Fail will be announcing today that they will be the abolition of stamp duty for first time buyers and the removal of any ceiling on the value of the property being bought.

According to the Irish Examiner

Senior Fianna Fáil strategists hope that this extraordinary change on stamp duty will help shore up support for the party after a terrible first four days of the campaign.

They also hope it will draw a line under the controversy surrounding the payment of £30,000 sterling in the 1990s to the Taoiseach’s former partner Celia Larkin, by a Manchester businessman whose house they were renting at the time.

….so, to distract people from what type of stamp duty resulted in Celia Larkin receiving £30k sterling from Bertie’s landlord the strategic planners have lumped for a manifesto policy that will put stamp duty full square in the headlines for a day or two.

The fact that the abolition would be backdated to the 30th of April is puported to be a measure to ‘remove uncertainty in the market’.

This is classic Zapp Brannigan politics. FF have for months resisted proposals to amend the Stamp Duty regime. They’ve postponed the problem until it became a crisis and, lo and behold, the solution arrives in the form of a bribe to the electorate that will cost (according to the Examiner) “several hundred million euros per annum”.

Given that (as IrishElection.com points out in detail in a manner that reminds me of the end of “The Usual Suspects”) FF has consistently and dogmatically resisted any call to change the stamp duty regime on the grounds that it would:

• Cost 1000s of jobs
• Likely as not have no real effect with the money going to developers instead
• Only amount to auction politics, which FF wouldn’t do

this represents a U-Turn on a staggering scale. A bit like a famous Danish beer, Fianna Fail don’t do auction politics. But if they did it’d be the best auction politics in the world. And just like said beer, too much quaffing from that trough will have you waking up with a massive headache feeling wretched and wondering what the hell you thought you were doing the night before.

Irish Elections rightly ask

Why was this not included in Fianna Fail’s Economic Policy document last week or yesterday?

To echo Minister Cowen’s own challenge to Fine Gael’s Manifesto – how has this been costed in?
What happens if there shortfall in growth forecasts? Will first time buyers be given a choice between their stamp-duty free homes or gardaí to police the estate or nurses to work in the local hospital, which may or may not get built because there might not be enough money for a hospital and a primary school.

If it looks too good to be true it probably is. On Morning Ireland this morning George Lee’s view is that the measure would cause property prices to rise rather than plateau which will not address the underlying economic issue of affordability of housing for first time buyers.

Hot on the heels of nurses and coppers, it’s the Prison Officers!!

The Prison Officer’s Association is having it’s conference from today in sunny Sligo.

Apparently their members are a bit peeved at the Minister for Justice seeking accountability from the prison officers one or some of whom, he claimed, must have been complicit in smuggling in the phone used to ring a national radio programme.

They’ve pointed out that due to cuts in staff numbers on prison landings overall security is down 20% and that while Sunday visits have been permitted for some criminals no extra staff have been rostered to cover these visits allowing contraband and phones to be smuggled in.

Remind me again who is responsible for staffing numbers, resources and policies in the Prison Service?

Could it be the same person who jumped on the bait of the ‘blue flue’ (which had not been mentioned by the GRA) and made the possibility of a ‘blue flu’ an election sound bite?

FF to announce Stamp Duty guffology in their manifesto later today.

The popping sound you hear is a spin doctor trying to work out how to distract the media from spotting the overlap between stamp duty in the normal sense and stamp duty in the sense in which a certain £30k was stamp duty.

I was thinking of giving this spin review a rest as there is a risk of my posts becoming unbalanced (or perhaps moreso) – after all the news doesn’t carry as much ill wind for the Opposition as they can just point across the street at the incumbents and say “It’s all their fault”. Also I can’t keep up with the range of issues that might bite the incubments in the backside at the moment, from the Nurses to the unfolding car crash that is the handling of the Tara find to the sniffles from the GRA conference today. The track record of Zapp Brannigan, the ethical flip-flopping and seeming evasiveness of the Taoiseach, and an apparent mind/body swap accident in PD Headquarters which resulted in Mary Harney’s face appearing on a press release from “The Leader” (currently Mr. McDowell) fills me with little hope that things will get any better in the headlines over the coming days.

The balanced thing to say is that many of the issues, from the Nurses to the Gardai to the outbreak of an MRSA-related rash in neo-natal wards in some hospitals will all face the current Opposition if they wind up being the alternative government. The Tara/Skryne Valley issue can’t be swept back under the sods of Meath – it will need to be dealt with. Hospital infections too won’t go away on their own (apparently you need ointment or summat).

What will go away is the seeming ethical vacuum that exists that allows decisions to be taken that disenfranchise voters by reason of geography (and it is not just students, despite what certain letter writers in today’s Irish Times seem to think) and that allows pursuit of spin and polish to override the responsibilities of office. In SpiderMan, Peter Parker’s uncle tells him that “with great power comes great responsiblity”. Since yesterday’s “Cell-Phone” incident the Minister for Justice has been pushing the line that someone needs to take personal accountability.

In a few hours the High Court will rule on whether the electoral boundaries that we will be voting in this time around are even Constitutional. This was a trainwreck that was seen coming in September last year but was ignored or long fingered until the last possible moment by the relevant Minister. I say ignored or long fingered as the alternative – a CONCIOUS DECISION not to have a review of electoral constituencies would suggest a conspiracy to unbalance our system of STV-PR.

Martin Cullen took some personal accountability. I never thought I’d say this but he has gone up in my estimation. The evasiveness of Bertie, the ‘kick arse and chew gum’ arrogance of McDowell and the antics of our resident Zapp Brannigan crisis manager in Environment suggest an otherwise general and widespread inability or unwillingness from other Ministers to walk the walk and likewise take some personal accountability.

So as citizens we need to take some personal accountability. Ultimately we get the government we deserve, based on who we vote for and whether we vote at all. If you want to return the Zapp Brannigans of Irish Politics to power for another 5 years then either vote for them or stay home and hide behind the couch. In either event you will get what you deserve in terms of political leadership. On the other hand, if you want to give the alternative a chance then vote… staying at home hiding behind the couch is not an option!

Don’t be taken in by the Campaign spin. Look at the issues objectively. More importantly in my view look at the quality of leadership… ask yourself if the leadership culture espoused is one that is likely to “drive out fear” so that people can suggest and promote change and improvement.

And well done Martin Cullen. I won’t vote for you, but I might shake your hand (as long as you retain the hindsight and humility that let you see what an arse was made of electronic voting).

OK then… so I’ve pointed out that many of the problem headlines are not the sole challenge of the incumbents. I’ve given Martin C his ‘attaboy’ for balance in coverage and I’ve raised the question of what type of leadership we want…

… right, so that is a bit more opinion and balance on the Blog.

Political Animal sighted in Dublin City Centre

The Bert is back. He was spotted this afternoon glad-handing his way around the shopping districts near O’Connell Street. The spin was back.

His choice of words, as ever, may have let him down slightly….

“I’m delighted with the excellent reaction I’m getting on the streets,” he told the media scrum, “despite the fact that we’re standing on the people.”

Stamping on them might be more accurate. And things aren’t all rosy…

Pre-Christian equivalent of ‘Bertie Bowl’ to be bulldozed? Surely not?

BreakingNews.ie has the story that the significant Henge structure that may or may not have been uncovered by Minister Martin Cullen earlier this week (the timeline is so hard to figure out) but is apparently the size of 3 football fields (soccer, gaelic, or American we are not told) is at risk of being bulldozed out of existence on the orders of Minister Zapp Brannigan Dick Roche.

The Minister’s spokesperson, (who we’ll call Kif Kroker because we can), has stated that the Minister is in consultation with the National Museum’s director on the matter. Breaking News helpfully points out for us that

The Irish National Monuments Act allows for the partial or complete destruction of national monuments, or finds of significant importance, by the Government if it is deemed to be in the public interest.

The National Museum director is consulted but has no veto over any Government decision

Which effectively means that Kif has told us that Captain Brannigan is having a chat with someone whose opinion he doesn’t have to listen to in order to potentially just put a tick in the box on a process to destroy a find of significant importance. Sweet. That’ all good then right.

The issue has been put in an ethical context by Conor Newman, Professor of Archaeology in NUI Galway.

“The campaign to preserve this site has become a legal battle when in fact it should be an ethical one, whether we value our heritage or not,” he said.

So that’s OK then. The party lead by the man who won’t explain why his partner was paid stamp duty relating to the house he was renting will have no problem grasping the ethical implications here.

RTE also mention this while repeating last night’s news that Zapp Dick Roche had ordered work stopped.

I’m relieved. I thought it would be case of our heritage going from being covered in woad to being coverd by a road.

Nurses – you gotta love ’em

And the nurses have announced a series of work stoppages next week.

At this rate the only thing that will be cluttering up corridors in hospitals will be patients.

Gardaí

And the Gardaí – specifically the main Representative Association for rank & file gardaí have come out with support for the nurses.

They haven’t actually hinted at or mentioned feeling bunged up in the nose and being a bit scratchy in the throat like they had a flu coming on or something *cough cough*, particularly if the nurses got their way and had their demands met.

But that hasn’t prevented Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice and PD Leader, endorsing their health and fortitude by saying there would be no ‘blue flu’. On the issue of Garda pay, he has said that he will not stand for that kind of thing and he was “not for turning” (unlike sods of earth in Meath that hide massive henge structures). He also said that

An Garda Síochána was one of the best remunerated police forces in the world, and that any pay issues would have to be dealt with through benchmarking.

(source RTE News)

OK, Day 3 was a bit hairy for Government party spin people… Day 4 should be a piece of cake though, with the worst over right?

Lunch time trawl of headlines:

Nurses plan escalation of dispute

After talks breakdown, the nurses plan further disruption to healthservice.

This particular patient’s condition is getting increasingly critical. Get me 10CC of strikebreakers STAT!!

National Competitiveness

Garda Representative Association Conference has been told that if the nurses get a pay rise they’ll look for one too. This isn’t quite what we mean by “National Competitiveness” but it a doozy.
What will happen if we get a ‘blue flu’ but have no nurses working to tend to this virulent and disruptive illness?

BreakingNews.ie has more here.

Martin Cullen admits the possiblity of having made a bit of an arse of electronic voting

The Irish Examiner reports it today, picking up on an interview on NewsTalk radio yesterday.

Cullen admits mistake over e-voting debacle
By Paul O’Brien, Political Reporter

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen has finally conceded he got it wrong on
electronic voting.

“I suppose with hindsight, yes, I might have dealt with it differently,”
he said last night of the manner in which he handled the issue. “I’ll put
my hands up”.

Mr Cullen’s willingness to acknowledge mistakes is in stark contrast to
the Taoiseach, who only last week attempted to blame the opposition
parties for the debacle, saying they had set out to find fault with the
€52 million system.

If anyone has a podcast or audio of that particular interview I’d love to hear it… were the words muffled by the big slice of humble pie he was cramming down?

Of course, of the these the first two are problems that whatever parties win the election will have to deal with. The other is just funny. Why for would a Minister attempt to distance himself from a leader who is having some tricky questions asked about him right now?

Hindsight is great, even if it does mean having to accept you were talking out of your behind.

Cash in the Attic Scandal continues

Ok, it wasn’t in the attic but where the hell did it come from and what was it for?

FF party line is that this isn’t an election issue (and if you are seeking droids, these are not the ones you are looking for and you should move along [wave of jedi hand]).

However, the fact that we’re in Day 4 of the Campaign and there has been nothing to counter the impression that their leader is a man running from a shady past who cannot be trusted as far as you could throw a thing that is inherently unthrowable does make it an election issue. The ‘corporate culture’ of denying a problem until it either goes away or becomes a large enough crisis for Minister Zapp Brannigan to wade in to resolve it seems to be kicking in.

Well they are consistent.

Here’s a REAL journalist’s take on the events of day 3… (what would I know)

Day 4 of the elections and spin is being spun.

Trevor Sargent has laid into el Berto for calling the election on a Thursday and disenfranchising young voters. Trevor encourages young voters (students etc.) to register to get on the supplemental register where they are currently living.

What about us poor commuters though? I have a home, mortgage, cats and family in the far flung county of Commuterania. I don’t want to vote in Dublin North East where I rest my head mid week. I would have used the postal vote system but there was not enough time for me to

• find form on line
• Get boss to sign form
• Get form back to the County Council of Commuterania

. That is another less emphasised impact of the Dail being dissolved on a Sunday morning.

I want to feel that I have had a say in electing the people who represent my local interests on the national stage. So I’ll have to juggle my schedule the last week in May to make sure that I am in the Far Flung County and can use my low tech, high trust paper and pencil to vote.

I would love to be a fly on the wall in Fianna Fail or PD central this evening. Things haven’t gone exactly well on the PR front today.

Tricky issues in the High Court.

A 17 year old girl who is pregnant with a child who has been diagnosed with an ailment that means they will not survive outside the womb has had to go to the High Court to try and get the State Agency whose care she is in to let her make her own decisions about how to proceed with the pregnancy. Tricky legal and moral issues… very hard for a politician to give answers about their view on the situation without alienating either extreme in Irish political life.

Little spin to be spun on that one.

Prisoner phones prominent talk show using a mobile phone smuggled into their cell

Please note I’ve avoided using the phrase “cell-phone” (American readers will just need to put up with my quaint Oirish ways).

A prisoner banged up for armed robbery in one of Ireland’s main prisons managed to phone in to one of Irelands most popular afternoon radio shows today using a mobile phone that had been smuggled into his cell. The segment of the show in question featured Paul McWilliams, a well known criminal reporter. The lads in the cell knew his work well but apparently didn’t think too highly of it. (Of course, by criminal reporter I mean a reporter on criminal activities).

Apparently the Prisoner is not a number, he’s a human being.

The Minister for Justice is a bit peeved – apparently “somebody has to take accountability for all of this”.

Wrap the spin-doctor in copper wire and stick a magnet by his head…. we’re makin’ electricity now!

UPDATE: The Podcast for this liveline show is available HERE about 52 minutes in. Paul McWilliams reaction when he realises that the guy he is talking to is in a maximum security prison is priceless.

After years insisting there were no unfound significant archaelogical finds on the route of the M3 Motor way…

..and not 3 weeks after our Heritage body An Taisce was denied a Judicial review of aspects of the proposed motorway through one of the former seat of the High Kings of Ireland and (it gets better) only ONE DAY after the flashbulbs popped and soundbites bit at the turning of the first sod on the road by Martin Cullen TD, our Minister for Road Building Transport, an archaelogical site the size of THREE football fields is found. It could only be funnier if Cullen’s spadework had uncovered the danged thing on camera.

To cap it all off, Minister Cullen was quoted yesterday as saying that the project was not gamble. I wonder if this new and significant archaelogical find will strengthen or weaken An Taisce’s case in their upcoming Supreme Court challenge to the route of the Motorway?

Nurses Talks collapse (may be stuck on a trolley in a corridor for a while)

Our nurses are revolting. And they’ve been going on strike. Talks that have been kicked off to try and stop hospitals being shut during the election campaign have collapsed again. Unfortunately the hospitals have run out of beds so the talks have been left on a trolley in the hallway until they are feeling well enough to be sent either home or to a respite care home.

Things to do after the election – get sick.
Things to do before the election – not get sick.

Commuter heaven

Actually no. Can’t find a link to a source for this one, but it appears that due to roadworks in Co.Dublin a tailback occured this morning that stretched from a roundabout on the outskirts of Dublin city all the way back to Naas in Co. Kildare. That’s a fair stretch of road for a tailback.

This one could be hearsay, an urban myth. However just in case it isn’t it is lucky the election will be on a Thursday so commuters can’t vote (well not easily – polls are open to 10:30 it seems. As we only had 2 days notice, postal voting is a red herring for most of us).

An Finally… Bertie pays stamp duty (?) on a house he is renting but the money winds up with his then girlfriend who he wasn’t renting from

This just gets weirder and weirder. A large cash sum (£30k) is paid (in cash) to the girlfriend of the prime-minister. His explanation is that it is a “stamp duty matter” – but stamp duty isn’t payable to the renter of a property (how i wish it was) and related to ‘refurbishments’ to a house that was, at the time only 3 years old.

Brain hurting trying to figure it out… the bods over at irishelection.com seem to share my confusion.

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So all in all a busy day for the outgoing Government’s spin teams.