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THE OIREACHTAS IS a strange place to work. Standing orders, speeches in a big empty room, circular conversations with chief executives of banks. And holidays. Lots and lots of holidays. There’s a few weeks at Christmas, a mid-term, Easter, the entire summer, and then another mid-term. It’s as if the whole thing were designed by teachers. The media, understandably, makes great play of these holidays, so when TheJournal.ie asked if I would share what I did last week on my mid-term break, I thought, sure. So here goes:
Monday
Okay, I really did take Monday off, but c’mon, it was a bank holiday. Highlight was the new James Bond movie. Those with kids will understand the almost unimaginable luxury of spending over two hours in a cinema…in the middle of the day. Skyfall was superb cinema, but, well, I can’t really say more without ruining the movie, and who wants to be that guy?
Tuesday
Spent the day in the constituency office in Greystones. Started with clinics and moved on to working on individual constituent issues. These included children with special needs losing their teaching supports, people having their homes repossessed, schools changing patronage, domestic abuse, child custody, immigration, emergency accommodation for a mother and children, the household charge, development levies, rates, healthcare access for a toddler, withdrawal of community supports for the elderly, seed capital for start-up businesses, unsustainable debt, noise pollution and illegal dumping. At 6pm I attended the Joint Policing Committee where the Gardaí shared the latest crime figures. Some good news (public order offences and shop-lifting down), some bad (burglaries and drunk people punching each other outside house parties up).
Wednesday
(Image: alexskopje/Shutterstock)
I was meant to be in Leinster House for an all-day Finance Committee session. IBRC (formerly Anglo and Irish Nationwide) and AIB were in to answer a few questions. In particular, I wanted to ask Alan Dukes how much of the €18 billion in interest we’re paying on the promissory notes we’re likely to get back.
(Quick aside: In 2010 the Government invented a debt to Anglo Irish Bank. One minute we owed them nothing, the next, we owed then €31 billion. We got nothing in exchange. It gets worse – now that we owed them €31 billion, we also needed to start paying them interest. You couldn’t make it up. Karl Whelan estimates that the total interest payments will amount to €18 billion . We’ve been told not to worry about that because really we’re just paying the interest to ourselves as we own the bank. Fine – IF there’s €18 billion sitting there for us to take back once Anglo’s liabilities have been fully discharged. I’ve asked Michael Noonan to confirm that that’s the case, but he couldn’t. Next year we will pay Anglo €2.35 billion in such interest payments, on a made-up loan a dead bank. That’s two-thirds of the entire €3.5 billion budget correction coming our way this December. So between and and mid-December, when you hear “Oh but we’ve got to tax and cut because we need to close the deficit”, remember that that’s rubbish – we’re taxing and cutting to pay Anglo Irish Bank billions of euros of interest on a loan that was never made).
However, one of my kids was due to have an operation at Crumlin Children’s Hospital, so I couldn’t make it. I asked Peter Mathews if he’d put the question to Alan Dukes on my behalf, which he kindly did. We’re still trying to unpick the exact implications of the response, but our best guess at present is that we may be able to recover about €6 billion of the €18 billion.
The rest of Wedneday was spent in the constituency office, working on constituent cases, doing analysis for a budget submission and preparing for the following day’s Finance Committee. The evening was spent doling out sweets to goblins, witches, vampires, superheroes and ghosts. Some took apples, which was weird.
Thursday
Spent the morning prepping for the Finance Committee, where Richie Boucher, the chief executive of Bank of Ireland, was appearing. To say that the session was frustrating would be an understatement. I used my time to ask if the bank had to date engaged in any level of debt surrender to holders of unsustainable mortgages. He refused to say. So I asked if the bank would even consider debt surrender under the upcoming Personal Insolvency Bill. He refused to say. You can watch the video above - I’m not going to lie, the content is dull as dishwater, but the general tone is unmistakable.
The afternoon was spent reviewing a proposal for home care for the elderly, and meeting with the excellent Marian Harkin MEP on all things Europe and with two Fine Gael TDs on all things Anglo.
Friday
The morning was spent on the Personal Insolvency Bill with Ross Maguire of New Beginning, after which we met with Minister Shatter on the same issue. There are a few important changes I would like to make to the Bill, but I have to say, I was impressed. This is the most important piece of legislation to come from this Government in regard to tackling the economic crisis, and specifically in this case, the household debt crisis.
It was our intern’s last day (he’s just landed a cool job in London), so we brought him out for lunch (note – we’re looking for an intern for Leinster House!). Then is was back to Wicklow for a meeting on a fantastic branding & enterprise strategy for Greystones.
Friday night, I wrote a piece for the Sunday Independent, Saturday morning, I wrote this. And I’m off shortly to meet a very clever data analyst who’s going to explain how social media can be used to support communities of volunteers. Obviously there was a mass of the usual random stuff we all deal with in our jobs and our lives, but I’d say that that’s about the headlines for my week off.
Stephen Donnelly is an Independent TD for Wicklow and East Carlow. See http://www.facebook.com/DonnellyforWicklow and http://www.stephendonnelly.ie for more information.
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We need more like you Stephen
All TDs should be like Stephen: appropriately qualified, appropriate experience, and well-informed.
Fair play to Stephen on reporting what exactly entails a “week off” for TD’s. When ever the Dáil rises for a week the media reports it as if they’re all off to the Costa Del Sol when in fact the vast majority of them are working as hard as ever as Stephen has outlined above. For me Stephen has been one of the outstanding TD’s of this, the 31st Dáil and is a model on which any perspective politician could base themselves on. Maith thú.
A chosen week ! Come off it ! That’s nerdy
Stephen Donnelly is just an exceptional td and talent! God I yearn for more of his like! The man is a credit to the country!
What he said!!
Great job with that horrible Boucher man – I don’t know how you didn’t punch his lights out! If you are going to persist in saying that Skyfall was a good movie as opposed to a pile of sh1te, I may have to re-consider voting for you next time – only sayin.
Fair play Stephen. I actually believe you are an honest politician. those two words don’t often appear together. Keep up the good work. Glad I voted for you.
Richie Boucher is a bloody robot
You give him too much credit, he’s arrogant and seems to think himself above public opinion.
Stephen Donnelly showed articulate persistence trying to get answers from Boucher. These scenarios should not be allowed arise Boucher should be required to answer the questions, imagine being called in to your bank/lender because they are concerned with your company’s performance and you sat on your hands and behaved like Mr Boucher, well I think they would find the vague stoner response enough to make them pull the plug.
Noonan’s article in todays indo is hard to take…if these guys are getting there pensions funded by the taxpayer bailout and our finance minister can do nothing about it is Noonan really the person who should be negociating a bank deal…the gold plated deals these people got is surreal and a damning inditment of all thats wrong with this country
They have the power to impose a specific 99% tax on anything just like the USA did on bankers bonuses.
An average week for most TD’s it would be a great experience for people to go to the Dáil and see the work that goes on that the public never sees or is never reported on .
Don’t try and play the “accountability” game – you led us into this mess and FF failed miserably. Go away and don’t come back.
Ya and it would be a great experience for most TD,s to spend a day even in the life of a normal Irish citizen, struggling to put food on the table.
A pack a fools the hole lot of ye!
http://www.change.org/petitions/supporting-the-irish-nation-step-down-from-government
FF/PD/Green leaders the origionak troika traitors with their cronies and gombeen brigade sold this country down the river to the toxic IMF/EU/ECB troika. FG/LAB making sure this traitors policies brought about by FF will continue and prosper to protect your golden circle friends in Ireland and further afield.
Picture this: “Feck off Leo”. You can’t say that to me, I am a minister in this government. I am going straight to Enda. Leo meets Enda outside his office talking to his sec. This this adviser of yours keeps telling me to feck off, I have ideas Enda I should be listened too. “Ah now Leo, I have a country to run, come on into my office. Look Leo that adviser is giving you good advice; you are the face of FG not the brains. I need you out there smiling. What did we discuss smiling not talking yes, good lad. If you have to talk make sure it’s not about transport or arts. But Taoiseach, I’m a doctor! Yea right, you were not much good to healy-rea when he went down in the chamber, if it was not for “the badger” he would have being a gonner. Placing his arm around Leo, you know I was once like you and look at me now. It’s not about brains it’s about promoting our party and bringing in funds. On that subject I have a few Hospice for you to visit and this time bring a commissioners for oaths with you I don’t want a replay of the athlone incident, I mean, where did you think you going to find a solicitor at two o clock in the morning. If those gardai did not want a transfer to another district you would have being front page on the indo. You could at least have driven that poor old women around. It’s not my fault, I tried to get her into the car but her oxygen tank would not fit. It’s hard enough to get in before the church they always get the last crack of the whip. Annemarie has a list of approved Hospice we don’t need you going onto FF patch; a turf war is the last thing I need. You know Leo, you not getting any younger if you don’t knuckle down and bring in some results you will find yourself back in the seanad is that what you want? When you have finished this little job for me why not take a few days off and work on your tan. Take the jet we will say it’s to promote business, go somewhere quite, and stay far away from any media types.
Couldn’t read that…. Try separating into paragraphs. Not trying to be a tool, I’m just saying I couldn’t actually read it.
got lost half way through it, think it may have been an attempt at humour?
@tomy, I got lost half way through it, but i think it may have been an attempt at humour?
PARAGRAPHS
PLEASE
Fair play Stephen.
Some people (usually bitter resentful people from other parties) knock the existence of independents – but clearly they have their use and if the above report is even semi-accurate, clearly independent TD’s are just as much needed in this state as much as party affiliated ones.
…Now if we could only get party affiliated ones to do as much work in a lot of cases too!
If I could I’d move to your constituency just to vote for you in future elections. I may not always agree with your opinions but I never doubt their honesty. Next time your in front of the like of Boucher consider Liam Neeson tactics from taken… That might get the smug arrogant pompous twits talking.
Could we see what he claimed in expenses please?
You can because it is public information which you will find here. His expenses are average. Not sure what your point is?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AlxJrxiwB44XdGJZcG0tUVI2aWVGZzdkUThWZG1FTHc&pli=1
80′s BG: I’d say it’s what I call “knee-jerk cynicism”… I’m hoping the name catches on and the attitude drops…..
Vote this man for next president. We need more like him.
I’d prefer him as our TD his head and shoulders above the rest, if he was el prez he would not be able to do things as he would have to be impartial
Used to think he knew the craic until he started endorsing Yes vote on we own your budget treaty.Time to start nailing your colours down Stephen me thinks.
ITS Student have you ever visited the Dáil if not do and then come back and comment .
How many times do you need telling, Go away and don’t come back.
Oh, give us a break. Go take your right-wing editorials somewhere else.
=======================================================
If Fianna Fail ever gets re-elected, the whole nation will suffer through another four more years of incompetence, and divisive petty political games by the Fianna Failures.
The electorate made their opinion quite clear at the last election. So what part of “Get lost” do you not understand ?.
You may very well have your few followers that keep blowing smoke into the orifices normally your party used for speaking but the majority have dished out the rewards deserved.
I seem to remember some Fianna Fáil TDs getting elected. Telling someone to go away and don’t come back is pretty childish, and doesn’t say much for your communication skills.
Typical arrogant Fianna Fail.
Do you consider the average week for the average Irish person on a fraction of the wages that a FF TD is on, and what they have to go through, to survive, what you created.
Go and see their lives, and when you do, come back and comment.
Hopefully FF will soon be wound up and finished.
In Ireland the electoral term is five years. “Four more years” is a phrase you might have heard on the TV.
Good for you Stephen,good honest work for the benefit of our country.
Solution to our situation needed as the last time I checked things are worse than ever!
Well done Stephen ,we really do need more like you and I reckon we should all vote independents next time round. They are sensitive to peoples needs and therefore the countrys needs,and they work hard.
Les Rock according to last weeks SBP poll 21% of Irish voters don’t agree with you .
And that bloody scares me Mark.
All this constituency work is a joke. Never stepped inside one in my life but do they really hand out medical cards and reduce your development levies there. Give you free housing and upgrade your housing, etc all for free. Surely if you want a medical card, etc. you just apply and you either meet the criteria or you don’t – What is the point in talking to a TD about it?
mid-term break !!! you’re having a laugh these people were voted in to work towards the “betterment” of this country and they are more than overpaid to try an do this and needless to say too many days off aswell
So complain to your local representative rather than trying your best to paint this one with the same brush?
RE: €31 billion debt to Anglo. Anyone know what reason/justification was given for this?
please choose from the answers below
1/ because they asked mr cowen nicely?
2/ because most of f/f and their mates were up to their elbows in ‘loans and digout’s from anglo?
3/ because most of f/f and their mates were share holders in anglo?
there are no prizes just good honest fun!
He’s rarer than hens teeth.
so other then stephen the rest of the fg tds and ff and labour dont actully bother coming in yes they are worth all their big money and expenses arent they disgraceful parliment a joke
@graham, is this what we have to listen to until the next election? Ask your local representatives what their position is on this and challenge them on it when they hit your doorstep looking for your vote.
Why do people see politics as being passive? Everyone is supposedly committed to giving us what we want. Why not TELL them?
Enjoying the easy life then!
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