Spotlight BBC1 now - Stormont MLAs rent scams

[Applesisapples]

Lets get a bit of perspective here, as with the last programme Spotlight has cobbled together a few bits and pieces to create a story. Relying on Davy Hyland who fell out with the Shinners after being stood down as an MLA is par for the course with this programme which uses dubious sources with their own private agendas to create stories. At least the Shinners were using the cash to the advantage of their constituents by providing additional workers, albeit to the electoral benefit of the party. There is no evidence of the UUP or the Stoops who were also paying money into party funds doing likewise. The bottom line is there are expenses due for mileage if an MLA chooses to take 50% and give 50% to the party that is his prerogative. The £700K claimed by the Shinners for research is a sensational number but to my knowledge it spanned several years. Again they are entitled to claim these expenses. The Debate though should be whether the expense paid which are in line with the Civil Service are too high. Undoubtedly yes. There needs to be a route and branch revision of wages and expenses to civil servants which are heading towards 30% higher than the average private sector wage. Meanwhile nurses who are paid a pittance compared with the work they have to do and who are put under severe pressure by a fat-cat management saving money by cutting frontline staff are insulted with 1% but only if they are at the top of their band. Now there is a story Spotlight should investigate.

Sensationalist ? It is what it is, £700k over 10 years for "research" to a company owned by SF

Do you not see anything wrong with that?

Conall McDevitt resigned for a lot less

McDevitt shouldn't have resigned

[Lecale2]

Typical

The Debate though should be whether the expense paid which are in line with the Civil Service are too high. Undoubtedly yes. There needs to be a route and branch revision of wages and expenses to civil servants which are heading towards 30% higher than the average private sector wage.

Oh look over there! Somebody else is to blame.

Anything to avoid dealing with the issue.

[macdanger2]

Lets get a bit of perspective here, as with the last programme Spotlight has cobbled together a few bits and pieces to create a story. Relying on Davy Hyland who fell out with the Shinners after being stood down as an MLA is par for the course with this programme which uses dubious sources with their own private agendas to create stories. At least the Shinners were using the cash to the advantage of their constituents by providing additional workers, albeit to the electoral benefit of the party. There is no evidence of the UUP or the Stoops who were also paying money into party funds doing likewise. The bottom line is there are expenses due for mileage if an MLA chooses to take 50% and give 50% to the party that is his prerogative. The £700K claimed by the Shinners for research is a sensational number but to my knowledge it spanned several years. Again they are entitled to claim these expenses. The Debate though should be whether the expense paid which are in line with the Civil Service are too high. Undoubtedly yes. There needs to be a route and branch revision of wages and expenses to civil servants which are heading towards 30% higher than the average private sector wage. Meanwhile nurses who are paid a pittance compared with the work they have to do and who are put under severe pressure by a fat-cat management saving money by cutting frontline staff are insulted with 1% but only if they are at the top of their band. Now there is a story Spotlight should investigate.

I'm pretty sure you're only ENTITLED to legit expenses

[Maguire01]

Lets get a bit of perspective here, as with the last programme Spotlight has cobbled together a few bits and pieces to create a story. Relying on Davy Hyland who fell out with the Shinners after being stood down as an MLA is par for the course with this programme which uses dubious sources with their own private agendas to create stories. At least the Shinners were using the cash to the advantage of their constituents by providing additional workers, albeit to the electoral benefit of the party. There is no evidence of the UUP or the Stoops who were also paying money into party funds doing likewise. The bottom line is there are expenses due for mileage if an MLA chooses to take 50% and give 50% to the party that is his prerogative. The £700K claimed by the Shinners for research is a sensational number but to my knowledge it spanned several years. Again they are entitled to claim these expenses. The Debate though should be whether the expense paid which are in line with the Civil Service are too high. Undoubtedly yes. There needs to be a route and branch revision of wages and expenses to civil servants which are heading towards 30% higher than the average private sector wage. Meanwhile nurses who are paid a pittance compared with the work they have to do and who are put under severe pressure by a fat-cat management saving money by cutting frontline staff are insulted with 1% but only if they are at the top of their band. Now there is a story Spotlight should investigate.

I'm pretty sure you're only ENTITLED to legit expenses

Precisely. They were entitled to claim the costs incurred in carrying out certain activities. Their entitlement to claim as they did has now been questioned.

[lawnseed]

Enter side stage on a pyebald pony conal the barbarian mcdevitt "i did nothing wrong" just in time for june big al quits after losing his seat. You  couldnt make it up

[Jeepers Creepers]

Enter side stage on a pyebald pony conal the barbarian mcdevitt "i did nothing wrong" just in time for june big al quits after losing his seat. You  couldnt make it up

He's to busy trying to kick himself up the arse after watching spotlight!

[armaghniac]

In the 26 counties, not noted for high standards, they do at least take some action. 
-------------------------------------------

Former Fianna Fáil TD Ned O'Keeffe has pleaded guilty to five counts of falsely claiming mobile phone expenses while a member of Dáil Éireann.

He has received a suspended seven-month prison sentence and been fined €3,500.

While acknowledging compensation totalling €3,737.50 had been paid, Judge Leo Malone said the sentence had to reflect the seriousness of the matter and O'Keeffe's role as a public representative.

The charges follow a two-year investigation by members of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.

O'Keeffe represented the constituency of Cork East for almost three decades until his retirement in 2011.

He was first arrested in connection with this investigation at his home in Mitchelstown in April 2012.

The 72-year-old met gardaí by appointment at Togher Garda Station earlier today, before being brought before Cork District Court.

[orangeman]

They're nearly all at it.

[Minder]

€3k on mobile phone expenses ? Childs play compared to the boys in Stormont.

[Franko]

Most relevant thread I could find to post this in...

Given the protagonists in this (Arlene Foster, Turkingtons, Prentice Brothers) and the fact the at least one of the buildings had been in administration when it was bought, does anyone else get a whiff of impropriety about this little deal?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32749237

The Northern Ireland Executive has bought five office buildings in Belfast as a way of reducing the money it spends on rent.

Among the buildings are Laganside House, which is the headquarters of the Courts Service and Clare House which is the Department of Finance headquarters.

It has also bought Seatem House on Alfred Street and 2 - 4 Bruce Street.

The purchase of Causeway Exchange on Bedford Street had already been reported.

Finance Minister Arlene Foster said her department has been carrying out an asset management project.

The objective of the project is to "achieve on-going reductions in operating costs such as rental charges within government's leased office accommodation portfolio".

She added that owning the offices rather than leasing them would "deliver £2.3m of annual rental savings from 1 April 2015".

She said this figure would increase to £3.5m per a year when the vacant space purchased becomes fully utilised over the next three years.

Causeway Exchange, Laganside House and 2 - 4 Bruce Street were all owned by Portadown-based developers Prentice Estates.

In 2014, Prentice's bank loans were sold to the US investment fund Lone Star.

Clare House was owned by Turkington Holdings which has sold off most of its investment properties over the last two years.

Seatem House was sold out of receivership.

[Hereiam]

No doubt about it Franko It stinks. Foster will be out to keep the DUP's friends well financed thata for sure

[Maguire01]

Sucking up Stormont's deadlocked politics for £90k

Mick Fealty on 14 May 2015 , 1:18 pm 52 Comments | 1,702 views
One of the great things about not being able to scrutinise the Stormont administration and having everyone in government is that there is little brake on stuff like this...

The information released on Monday shows that last year Mr Robinson's two main Spads – barrister Richard Bullick and former accountant Timothy Johnston – were being paid the absolute maximum for a Spad, £91,809 A third DUP Spad, former lawyer Emma Pengelly, is also being paid the top rate of £91,809.

The fourth DUP Spad – who at that point was Gavin Robinson – was being paid £75,000. The three Sinn Fein Spads at the time were also being well paid, although none of them were on the maximum salary. Dara O'Hagan was being paid £87,812, Vincent Parker (who has now left) was also getting £87,812, while Aine McCabe was getting £84,054.

Sinn Fein says that its Spads only keep 'the average industrial wage' and pay the rest of their salary to the party.

Under the Belfast Agreement OFMdFM was originally given 3 SpAds, but since ST Andrews a fourth has been added. Missing in these accounts is an eighth, Sinn Fein's Leo Green who took a private settlement from the party months before the date of the informational release.

Stormont has 19 Spads – more than any other devolved region in the UK, even though Northern Ireland has by far the smallest population. Interestingly one of the DUP's gripes against David Trimble was the sheer size of OFMdFM, and department which still has very few direct executive functions.

For comparison with central government, Number 10 had 18 roughly about the same time. No one could suggest that OFMdFM is an equivalent to the PM's office, and nor could anyone seriously suggest that many of those named above could find jobs in the private sector at equivalent rates.

Indeed, you have to ask really what any of the folk there actually get to do since OFMdFM's most senior function seems to be blocking rival ministers getting anything to the Executive table.

UPDATE: Here's the paper trail of just how long it took to get OFMdFM to answer the question (several years after Cameron pledged to make this information default public information in 201o)

Link here if you want to follow the links embedded in the article - http://sluggerotoole.com/2015/05/14/sucking-up-stormonts-deadlocked-politics-for-90k/




Now, how many of these SpADs are likely to be worth 90k? How many of them would earn half of that in the real world?

Didn't SF call for a e100k cap of public sector salaries in the south (even for those individuals in charge of running significant organisations), yet it's happy to breach that cap for SpAds, appointed by the parties, with no accountability to the public and no independent recruitment process?

And when there's talk of 'Tory cuts' and having to slash public spending... well here's where some of the scarce funding goes.

[Saffrongael]

A niece of Paul & Alex Maskey is a SPAD of some description, I would say that was a rigorous selection process.

[Tony Baloney]

A nephew of Paul & Alex Maskey is a SPAD of some description, I would say that was a rigorous selection process.

I think he was asked if he could read and write.

[Saffrongael]

A nephew of Paul & Alex Maskey is a SPAD of some description, I would say that was a rigorous selection process.

I think he was asked if he could read and write.

My mistake, should have said niece.