GREED & CORRUPTION @ HEARTLESS IRISH POLITICS

THE IRISH TIMES

Politics 2014

Invoices show Departments of Justice, Education and Social Protection targeted

Rehab paid Frank Flannery to lobby the Government

Frank Flannery: money was paid to him through UK company associated with Rehab. Photograph: Eric Luke.

Fiach Kelly

Sat, Mar 8, 2014, 01:10

First published:Sat, Mar 8, 2014, 01:10

Political Correspondent

Fine Gael strategist and Rehab director Frank Flannery was paid thousands by the charity to lobby the Government, The Irish Times has learned.

Mr Flannery was paid for lobbying the Departments of Justice, Education and Social Protection, according to invoices submitted to the charity. The invoices were submitted in late 2011 and 2012, and were from Mr Flannery’s firm, Laragh Consulting Ltd.

The company invoiced Rehab for €66,000 in 2012 and €11,000 in 2011, and Mr Flannery, who did not respond to queries last night, previously said it “was used for a bit of private business”.

Two invoices seen by The Irish Times were for €5,500, excluding VAT, while another was for €11,000. Sources said invoices were submitted regularly in this period for the same activities, and usually amounted to about €5,500 a month.

UK companyIt is understood that even though Rehab Ireland was billed by Mr Flannery, the money was paid through a UK company associated with Rehab, TBG learning. Sources said this was a simple transaction. The invoices submitted by Mr Flannery, a former Rehab CEO, listed activities under the heading “provision of professional services of Mr Frank Flannery”.

The activities included “successfully lobbying in respect of the Charity Lottery Funds”; “lobbying with Department of Education and Department of Social Protection in respect of the activities of National Learning Network and TBG learning”; and “international representation in respect of Workability International and European Platform for Rehabilitaton”.

Mr Flannery is also a board member of the European Platform for Rehabilitation, as is Rehab CEO Angela Kerins.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is winding down the charitable lotteries scheme, a multimillion fund for charity lotteries, which compensated them for loss of business after the National Lottery was set up.

A Department of Justice statement said: “The Minister met with Rehab on 21 November 2011 at Rehab’s request, to discuss the Charitable Lotteries Scheme. Mr Frank Flannery was a member of the Rehab delegation at that meeting.”

A spokeswoman for Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said Mr Quinn had no formal meetings with Mr Flannery, but might occasionally “bump into him in Leinster House”.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton’s spokesman said she has “not held any formal department meetings with Mr Flannery, but would have encountered him informally on occasion in Leinster House and at the Rehab People of the Year awards”.

StatementA Rehab statement said Mr Flannery provided “consultancy services to the Rehab Group and its subsidiary companies”.

As well as his European work, the statement said Mr Flannery had significant knowledge of the charitable lotteries scheme and his work included “meeting and briefing officials” in the Department of Justice.

“Other work conducted included the preparation of position papers for and with Rehab on labour market activation policy in Ireland, aspects of which has in recent years been the responsibility of both the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Social Protection."

Mr Flannery, who is still active at the highest levels in Fine Gael and is a close associate of the Taoiseach, is to be asked to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions about Rehab.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has declined to say if former Garda confidential recipient Oliver Connolly should appear before the Oireachtas justice committee or co-operate with a review of allegations made by Sgt Maurice McCabe.

Mr Connolly, sacked as confidential recipient by Mr Shatter last month, has said he is “uncertain” about what an appearance by him before the committee would achieve.

Mr Connolly said he is considering whether he will co-operate with a review of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe’s allegations of misconduct within the force being carried out by Seán Guerin SC.

Mr Shatter would not say if Mr Connolly should co-operate with the inquiry set up by the Government.

This week Mr Connolly said he was still bound by the office he held as confidential recipient, and could not comment on any “alleged” or “unverified” conversations between himself and Sgt McCabe.

Sgt McCabe taped a conversation he had with Mr Connolly, and later released this to Independent TD Mick Wallace and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin. Mr Martin and Mr Wallace quoted Mr Connolly as telling Sgt McCabe: “If Shatter thinks you’re screwing him, you’re finished.”

When asked if and why he said this, Mr Connolly, who said he felt a “personal sense of betrayal” that the conversation was taped, replied that he could not say anything because of the confidentiality of his former office.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he assumes Mr Connolly will be able to co-operate with Mr Guerin’s inquiry without breaching confidentiality. However, in response to a query from The Irish Times , Mr Shatter would not go that far.

He was asked if Mr Connolly should appear before the justice committee and co-operate with Mr Guerin’s review and any other investigations that may be carried out by theGarda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

In reply, his spokesperson said: “These are matters for Oliver Connolly and the Minister does not propose to comment.”

Mr Connolly did not respond to queries last night.

shooting people on both sides fascist funded mercenary snipers or US special forces black op??

Indymedia Ireland

Leaked call from Estonian FM to Catherine Ashton (EU) indicates that snipers were provocateurs shooting people on both sides

international / anti-capitalism / feature Thursday March 06, 2014 23:08 by fred

4 comments (last - friday march 07, 2014 13:58)

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Another leaked phone call. This time between the Estonian FM and Catherine Ashton. It would seem to indicate that the same shooters on the rootops in Ukraine were shooting people on BOTH sides.

People have seen this kind of thing before in previous coups by the West such as the attempted coup against Chavez. It was used at the start of the Syria crisis before foreign mercenaries invaded and escalated matters much higher. It is standard operating procedure, dirty tricks 101.
read full story / add a comment

'I dare you to take my gun!' AK-47-toting Ukraine far-right leader Aleksandr Muzychko tells officials

Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Declare that Power Comes Out of the Barrels of their Guns

international / miscellaneous / other press Saturday March 01, 2014 12:55 by Paul Craig Roberts

8 comments (last - monday march 03, 2014 02:19)

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Its worth pointing out that Roberts is an associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy, so hes hardly a loony leftie. He is however a Democrat in the real meaning of the word. KM

Reality on the ground in Ukraine contradicts the incompetent and immoral Obama regime’s portrait of Ukrainian democracy on the march. To the extent that government exists in post-coup Ukraine, it is laws dictated by gun and threat wielding thugs of the neo-Nazi, Russophobic, ultra-nationalist, right-wing parties. Watch the video of the armed thug, Aleksandr Muzychko, who boosts of killing Russian soldiers in Chechnya, dictating to the Rovno regional parliament a grant of apartments to families of protesters.http://rt.com/news/radical-opposition-intimidating-tech...-882/

Read about the neo-nazis intimidating the Central Election Commission in order to secure rule and personnel changes in order to favor the ultra-right in the forthcoming elections. Thug Aleksandr Shevchenko informed the CEC that armed activists will remain in CEC offices in order to make certain that the election is not rigged against the neo-nazis. What he means, of course, is the armed thugs will make sure the neo-nazis win. If the neo-nazis don’t win, the chances are high that they will take power regardless. read full story / add a comment

Is State dept scumbag Nuland trying to illustrate current US credibility?

"Fuck the EU" - Conclusive proof that the US is meddling in the affairs of a soverign country

international / workers issues / other press Saturday February 08, 2014 13:01 by fred

9 comments (last - thursday march 06, 2014 08:58)

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US state dept diplomat Nuland "mutt" and Geoff are caught out nicely, in a hacked and leaked phone call. In what is probably the most brazen feat of brass necked hypocrisy I've ever seen, the mainstream media have tried to make it about how awful the russians are for spying on them. And this after the Snowden revelations!! "Fuck the EU" they say. But by far the worst thing about this is how they treat this uprising they are stoking with the aid of far right fascist thugs trained by NATO on the Russian border, like it's just some sort of a chess game.
And of course the EU don't care much about the insult because they are all on exactly the same page, as the second part of the transcript clearly illustrates. Read on.... read full story / add a comment

Attempt to hand over UN submission to the EPP.

international / eu / news report Friday March 07, 2014 21:09 by 32 County Sovereignty Movement

1 comment (last - friday march 07, 2014 22:19)

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An attempt today was made by the 32CSM to hand in the UN submission on the violation of Ireland's national sovereignty to the EPP which was blocked by the Free state police. read full story / add a comment

32CSM expanding in the South-East

national / miscellaneous / press release Thursday March 06, 2014 18:00 by 32 County Sovereignty Movement

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Carlow, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford and Kilkenny are now recruiting. read full story / add a comment

The Ukraine Deception -Towards the New World Order

international / miscellaneous / opinion/analysis Thursday March 06, 2014 17:17 by Robert Long

Foreign backed coup in Kiev.

This year will mark the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. Observing the media of Europe and the U.S one could be forgiven for seeing startling similarities between 2014 and 1914. Imperialist powers and entangling alliances pitting the world into two opposing camps over the fate of a small nation. In this case the autonomous Republic of Crimea. Crimea which is an autonomous region belonging to Ukraine but with an ethnic Russian majority has held the attention of world since the Pro-Russian government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown by rioters in the countries capital of Kiev on February 23rd, 2014.
read full story / add a comment

Pro Irish Sovereignty / anti EU protest Dublin Convention Centre

dublin / eu / event notice Thursday March 06, 2014 12:06 by protester

Tommorrow (fri 7th march) the European Peoples Party will be Gathering in the Dublin Convention Centre ahead of the European Elections .

It will be attended by heads of government, party leaders, ministers, national and European parliamentarians . Its being hosted by Fine Gael. Much of the Political Driving Force behind the European Union or United States of Europe will be in attendance.

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Three Irish and American peace activists deported from Egypt

international / rights and freedoms / news report Thursday March 06, 2014 01:45 by Justin Morahan

6 comments (last - friday march 07, 2014 18:29)

Three peace activists, Mairead Maguire Ann Patterson and Medea Benjamin were detained in Cairo and deported read full story / add a comment

James McBrien of Shell to speak to School of Engineering

cork / environment / event notice Wednesday March 05, 2014 21:47 by Corkonian

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Shell are sending an engineer down to UCC on Friday to talk about the Corrib Gas Project.
It should make for a lively debate... read full story / add a comment