THE Irish government is spending an astronomical €29,000-a-month to rent an ambassador’s residence in New Delhi, in a country where hundreds of millions of people live below the poverty line. The extraordinary rental agreement was signed for a property in the “diplomatic enclave” of New Delhi, the capital of India in January 2013 even as […]
Tag Archives: Irish
State pays astonishing €6,700 per week for rental of home for the Irish Ambassador in New Delhi
Ireland’s €4 million annual rent bill for ambassadorial residences including €46,000-a-month for a property in Tokyo
THE Department of Foreign Affairs is paying a staggering €46,000-a-month for a residence for the Irish Ambassador to Japan. The colossal rental fee, which comes to more than €550,000 each year, is paid for a property in the upmarket Tokyo suburb of Moto-Azabu. It is located in the embassy belt in Minato City where rental […]
Central Bank governor’s pay 40% higher than US counterpart while deputy governor pay negotiations see €13k cut in salary

IRELAND’S Central Bank chief is being paid significantly more than the head of the equivalent body in the United States, the Federal Reserve. Internal documents deciding upon the salary level for a new Deputy Governor in the bank have revealed that the governor of the Central Bank Philip Lane gets over 40% more than his […]
The scourge of politicians and their “private papers”
ONE of the most common criticisms politicians have of journalists is that they are obsessed with TD’s expenses and government waste. Quite aside from the fact that this obsession is in the public interest, there is actually another much more practical aspect to it. Ireland’s Freedom of Information law is severely limited, containing a raft of […]
How long did it take to change the rules to keep political expenses secret? All of seventeen seconds
There was an interesting discussion on Broadsheet following my last post on the battle to bring the expense claims of TDs and Senators out into the open. You can read a selection of the comments here One of the things on which questions were raised was this idea that something could be “quietly” introduced in the Dáil, without […]
Ending the secrecy that surrounds political expenses in Ireland – the battle resumes
Some of you will recall my efforts to get access to the invoices and receipts submitted by TDs and Senators as part of their expense claims. I’ve written previously on this, and how these invoices and receipts are now being classified as the “private papers” of politicians, and therefore exempt from Freedom of Information legislation. […]