Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Sean Fleming Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland
Mahon
Fianna Fáil TD demands Mahon Report correction
Laois TD Seán Fleming is seeking an urgent correction to his “probably inadvertent” mention in the fifth and final report of the tribunal.
10.10pm, 22 Mar 2012
7.1k
32
FORMER FINANCIAL CONTROLLER of Fianna Fáil Seán Fleming is to seek an urgent correction to the final report of the Mahon Tribunal which was published today.
The Laois TD issued a statement this evening to confirm he is writing to the tribunal to ensure the correction is made.
Fleming claims that the report – “probably inadvertently” – implies that he was aware of a £50,000 payment to Pádraig Flynn from Tom Gilmartin.
Advertisement
“This is simply not the case,” said Fleming.
There was no suggestion at any time at the Tribunal or at public session that I was aware of Mr. Flynn’s involvement in this matter. It is also clear from the tribunal’s own findings issued today that while other people were made aware of Mr. Flynn’s involvement, there is no suggestion that I had any knowledge on this matter.
As Financial Controller of the party, Fleming was asked by the tribunal to ascertain if there was a record of a donation to Gilmartin.
“No-one gave evidence suggesting that I had been told that the Gilmartin donation had been made to Padraig Flynn,” explained the TD.
It is clear from the evidence given at the Tribunal that the issue of a donation to Mr. Flynn is not something that I was aware of. Accordingly I am asking the Tribunal to correct its findings on this issue as a matter of priority.
Despite the correction sought, Fleming said he fully recognised the findings of the tribunal report. The clarification has been asked for as it has “significant consequences” for the TD, both as a serving politician and Chartered Accountant.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Might also spare a thought for the Gardai, the HSE paramedics not just in Dublin but all over Ireland, the other Irish fire services, the ESB line crews working their b*llocks off in awful weather to restore power in parts of the country, the nurses who are stuck in messy A&E depts and wards, and frankly anyone else who is stuck in work on a day everybody else is spending with their families and friends. Happy christmas.
To be fair the Author was writing about Firefighters working at Christmas. I’m sure if the ESB or NAS wanted to write an article about their work over Christmas the Journal.ie would accommodate them.
Hats off for the firefighters, and the linemen(ESB) and engineers, and the cooks and hotel workers and the Gardai, the nurses, doctors, funeral directors, water treatment operators, and even those at Centra on the Gort Rd in Ennis who are still at work today.
I feel a kinship, having worked at professions that often required working holidays? Where? Data centers, hotels, hospitals, television production….all 24/7, 365 day operations. Couldn’t live without ‘em.
Cheers, boys and girls. Enjoy.
It’s all just a ploy by the Dublin fire brigade. There trying to make out their great as some day soon they will lose the ambulance service and will be just firemen doing the job like the rest of them in the country. But they love having the public think that their dublins Heros, out save life’s on the ambulance cos there’s no one else to do it. The fact is 80% of them hate working on the ambulance.
One day the two tier ambulance service in Dublin will end. Ambulance will be sent for sick people and fire engines send to fires and life will go one and no one will think twice about the fire service or the ambulance service.
Lawrence i am going to say you have an axe to grind with the DFB. I Have seen some of your posts before and its quite obvious your not a fan, which would lead me to believe you have failed the aptitude test for the Brigade several times, or you are involved with another private ambulance service that is vying for the ambulance service in the city. It’s not a fact that 80% hate the ambulance, explain two tier service. The Fact is the Emergency services nation wide are stretched to breaking point. Fact is DFB have twelve ambulance to serve the greater Dublin area. Fact there is not always one available, a motor is sent with qualified staff on board. Please keep you hate filled comments to yourself, i would bet your probably listening to the DFB on a scanner radio saying it should of been me i could do that job..
Lawrence, the HSE is taking over all ambulance 999 calls including Dublin when the EOC in Tallaght opens next year. The actual ambulances are being transferred to the National Ambulance Service on a phased basis over a 2-year period. New ambulance officers have been appointed to the Dublin area in-line with coming changes. The tetra and computer dispatch system is almost fully nationalised meaning the closest ambulance will always be sent. 120 trainee paramedics to go through the ambulance college over the next year. The new chief fire officer for Dublin is seeking to fully implement the Keeping Communities Safe policy without delay. Positive news for the public. A dedicated fire service and a dedicated ambulance service. It’s a no-brainer. As usual the proven system in the UK is copied here decades later. Hopefully the Gardai will start catching up with the Brits too.
I assure you it’s not, and this is primarily as a result of concerns raised by the HSE & HIQA combined with the €10m per annum cost for the fire brigade ambulances as opposed to €7m per annum to provide it directly via the National Ambulance Service and Dublin City Council’s decision to implement Keeping Communities Safe, which was put in place to create a national standard for fire and rescue services.
Fact is that during the day there are 12 additional Emergency Ambulances up to 7pm at night between swords, james.st and tallaghts NAS stations as well as a motorbike RRV and an AP car fully equipped and four or five ambulances at night.
I have no issue in requesting the NACC to send us a motor or an AP from DFB to support us, I hope DFB crews realise that they too, can request the same help from us. When we start working together hopefully this them and us bullshit will end.
The national ambulance command and control centre is happening and DFB will have there EMS control integrated into the system at large. That means the closest ambulance to any incident will be sent be it DFB or NAS including support units.
We are a new generation of DFB and NAS. So let’s start cooperating with each other.
My dad is a firefighter and is working a shift right now, Christmas Day night, somebody has to do it bit I always hate to see my dad work on Christmas. He is also working New Years Eve night and that is a very busy night and he has to be in work instead of at home with us as a family.
Yas all do a great job 365 days a year even tho nobody wants to work christmas the dedicated do and fair play to all you brave souls happy christmas to all duty tonight
Lawrence…you’re an ignorant and trolling idiot… If you want to pop into the fire station someday we will take you up the ‘big ladder’ and even give you a ‘firetruck savings box’. Then one day when you’re older you too can “hate” the ambulance…Get your facts straight… TOOL
Lawrence, if a member of your family is seriously ill and a fire appliance is sent along with the ambulance you’d be very glad of their help and expertise if they arrive first. Fire appliances are not routinely dispatched in place of an ambulance, it’s related to the seriousness of the call. Your information is incorrect with the majority of DFB and HSE personnel wanting to do the best they can for those who need their help.
Lawrence where did you get that 80 % stat?Personally I enjoy the ambulance but I would like to do a little less than an. average of 20-25 cases a night.What do you work at your self?
There’s no reason for DFB ambulances to be as busy as they are, I’m in NAS and nothing irritates us more than seeing a DFB Ambulance passing our station from a distant station and we have a far closer Ambulance to respond .
This is not a dig at DFB crews, who I find very professional but it seems to me INTEGRATION of the EMS command and control, that the nearest Ambulance, motorbike response vehicle or Advanced Paramedic response car or Appliance be it DFB or NAS would serve the city more then the current situation that exists. This will also mean far less pressure on DFB Ambulance crews as the work would be evenly distributed between all available resources ,
FYI in addition to DFB’s 12 ambulances, we have in the Dublin area 12 available Ambulances during the day with support from rapid response vechicles, with a minimum of Paramedic or AP, that are available for DFB to call on, at night we have 3 ambulances with an extra one at weekend nights.
These articles always end up as a them or us but at the end of the day, operational staff on both sides want to serve the people of Dublin.
The NAS national ambulance command centre is assuming control of call distribution. When it does, hopefully this them and us bull can hopefully be left behind. I worked in areas where you would love to have this support, that neither DFB or NAS seem to appreciate.
Finally let’s hope that all Emergency Medical Service personnel working in Ireland have a safe holiday period.
DFB take a call ring over to EHB have you anything available for Swords, reply no we dont, so a DFB ambulance gets dispatched, DFB call EHB have ya anything available for Thomas street, EHB no sorry nothing available. DFB ambulance dispatched. DFB take a call four car RTA reckon this could make the news EHB ambulance crawling out of the word work, mundane cases are as much part of emergency service ambulance work as the big news worthy ones, not shit stirring any ambulance worker in DFB would say the same.
Of course stuff like this goes on Tom but it goes both ways. As you know until recently with the introduction of Intermediate Care Vehicles, HSE emergency ambulances were regularly tied up with AS2 (GP) calls or inter-hospital transfers, which of course is unavoidable at times and mundane would be an accurate word to describe it but this is an essential part of the country’s health service. Dublin Fire Brigade currently refuse to do these calls. However all this dysfunction will come to an abrupt end when the National EOC opens in Tallaght. No need to call across the room anymore as there will only be one system covering all ambulances, so the closest ambulance will be dispatched to emergencies but conversely Fire Brigade ambulances will be tasked to AS2 calls and inter-hospital transfers as and when required for the remainder of their tenure.
Tom I strongly disagree there on some big points.
1, firstly the EHB ambulance service you speak of was dissolved into the ERAS in 1999, it was further incorporated into the National Ambulance Service in 2005 which over the past few years has begun to modernise it’s deployment model, has in cooperation with the Irish Air Corp has developed Ireland’s first dedicated HEMS service. For you to call it an outdated name shows the lack of respect you have for the service.
2. Both NAS and DFB use the ProQA AMPDs automated triage system in the control rooms. For members of the publics benefit emergency calls are prioritised to a calls urgency, so echo delta Charlie and bravo calls are considered the most serious. Alpha and Omega calls are triaged as low priority cases where life is not in danger and so have a non blue light response( driving normal conditions like every member of the public)
Internationally Alpha and Omega calls tend to be considered a huge issue in ems provision because these calls usually don’t require an ambulance response and could be treated by gps etc. they make up more then 25% of an normal ems systems calls.
According to DFB 2012 clinical audit Alpha and Omega calls make up less then 10% of there responses, where do they go? Well interesting in the Dfb service area NAS answer higher amounts of calls of A/O categories then they do in parts of Dublin where Dfb ems is not prevalent.
This could be construe that DFB are passing on lower priority calls that as they have a slower response means ambulances tied up in calls longer.
In the case where a serious incident such as a traffic accident comes in, ambulances that may be mobile to lower priority calls but are not in attendance yet, will be redirected to the more urgent calls.
This circumstance is becoming rarer as NAS introduce ICS into the region. A nonemergency service that handles A/O calls and transfers leaving NAS emergency ambulances to respond where there colleagues in DFB may require the ambulance. Also NAS covers a larger area then DFB in the Dublin/ Leinster area hence there can be times where we may not have an ambulance available.last year NAS had
Nearly 1million patient interactions .
Tom who thinks calls are news worthy? Most NAS/DFB personnel respond to aid there fellow citizens not based on a calls news worthiness, in fact Dfb have a press office, NAS does not. Think that comment shows you up more then any service
As a nurse I understand what it means to be on the front line…as a professional…I know heart surgeons and A and E doctors whose work saves lives every day.Our heroes are firefighters….ye have no idea.God bless them all and protect them from harm. Frontline does not even describe what they have to do do in a day, let alone a week.
The firemen deserve all the praise they can get. They risk life and limb to keep the people of this country safe and sound, especially at this time of year, when there arso many fires.
I know a fireman who went into a blazing house and carried an old woman out of her burning bedroom
It’s an insight into what we do in DFB that’s it folks like any other job has its highs & lows and if we didn’t love it we wouldn’t do it! Hope everyone who is working over the next few days has a safe one.
Trev, nice light hearted write up about what we do, how we enjoy it and why we do it. Lawrence, is obviously just a hoax. There could never be a need to critasise any emergency service openly like that. Apart from being unprofessional it would also become a personal attack on Trevor’s article that he was asked to write. Trevor has not once asked to be called a hero nor would he ever! I looked at Lawrence’s twitter account. Apart from not having a picture,(odd) he seems to comment all the time on DFB related issues. If Lawrence is real – then we are obviously faced with someone bearing a grudge – misinformed – biased and unfortunate. Perhaps he couldn’t get into DFB or perhaps someone in DFB is unwittingly supplying him with bits of information that he is purposely manipulating, such as FireFighters going sick yesterday. We love being FireFighters and Paramedics, it is something we considered while applying for the job. We see it as a chance to make a social impact in our day in our way. Of course sometimes we moan and give out about things! Such as long nights on the ambulance, that’s one of our coaping mechanisms not a hatred for anything, so finally: will the real Lawrence please stand up? Are you employed? If so where do you work? Are you a professional service person in a full time emergency service? Why do you hate DFB? How many times did you apply for DFB?
Is the journal and twitter your only chance to talk? Do you need someone to talk to? Can you please stop misinforming people?
Labour is backing Catherine Connolly for president, but not everyone is happy about it
Jane Matthews
16 mins ago
380
trump's tariffs
Brazilians burn effigies of Donald Trump over punishing new tariff
1 hr ago
1.5k
High Court
High Court steps in as farmer gives €350k to charity to get into heaven
10 hrs ago
47.8k
47
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 216 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage . Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 150 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 197 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 160 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 120 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 121 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 51 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 48 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 178 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 78 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 112 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 117 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 51 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 66 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 37 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 123 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 127 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 95 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 117 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 104 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say