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    Government hired private jet despite availability of commercial flights

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    Private-jet travel is up to 14 times more polluting than commercial flights By Conor O’Carroll The government has hired private jets to transport the Taoiseach to foreign engagements and summits despite the availability of commercial options. Over the past twelve months, hundreds of thousands of Euro has been spent hiring private jets due to the unreliability and unavailability of the Learjet. In March, the Irish Times reported that the cost of these flights had surpassed €450,000, which included a two-day trip to the West Balkans in January by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s trip to Israel in November, both of which cost in excess of €100,000. However, updated figures released to Village show that since the start of 2023, almost €650,000 has been spent on hiring private jets, with at least three additional trips not recorded in those figures. In addition to the trip to the Balkans and Israel, where commercial travel would not be feasible, the government has also hired private jets for short-haul flights to Brussels, Paris and Munich. Analysis of historical flights records suggests that on a number of these occasions, commercial flights were available. On at least five occasions in recent months, Village found commercial flights with a scheduled departure time within just over 90 minutes of the departure of the government’s private jet, though it was sometimes far closer. During the Taoiseach’s recent trip to Munich in February for example, a commercial flight with Lufthansa from Dublin left within 45 minutes of the government private jet, while there was a return flight available within an hour and 40 minutes. Instead, the government opted to hire a Bombardier Challenger 350 for €73,000. Private-jet travel is considered to be up to 14 times more polluting than commercial flights, according to European sustainability NGO Transport & Environment. The Taoiseach also visited Paris in February for a special meeting of European leaders to discuss supporting Ukraine. For this, the government chartered two private jets for each leg of the journey, leaving the Air Corps base at Baldonnel for Le Bourget Airport. Flight data shows, however, that Aer Lingus flights between Dublin and Paris were scheduled to depart within an hour of the Taoiseach’s jet, landing and taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is a 10-minute drive from Le Bourget Airport. The Taoiseach is also a frequent visitor of Brussels, regularly attending EU summits. On at least four occasions since last October, the government has charted a private jet for the two-hour flight. This is despite on three of those occasions, there were once again commercial options available. On the most recent trip to Brussels in March, an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin was scheduled to take off just over 90 minutes before the government’s private jet, while for the return journey, the government’s jet left just 10 minutes before another Aer Lingus flight. The Department of the Taoiseach did not respond to queries regarding the decision to fly private rather than commercially, but did say “the provision of a contingency Ministerial Air Transport Service (MATS) arrangement was procured by the Department of Defence following an open tender competition”. The spokesperson also stated that “the Department of the Taoiseach records, monitors and values the carbon emissions associated with official air travel”, offsetting the emissions annually.   Many of the Taoiseach’s staff and security team are able to fly commercially, however, such as the recent trip to Zurich for the World Economic Forum where the Close Protection Officer responsible for ensuring the Taoiseach’s safety flew commercially. The Taoiseach, meanwhile, hired a private jet for the two-hour flight at a cost of over €63,000. By comparison, records show the flights for the Close Protection Officer cost a little over €600. According to flight data, a Swiss Air flight to Zurich took off from Dublin just over an hour before the Taoiseach, and while there was a gap of almost three hours between the government’s private jet taking off on the return journey and any commercial options, it also made a one hour stop in Knock before returning to Baldonnel. Emails released under Freedom of Information legislation also show that the increased traffic of private jets arriving at Baldonnel is causing some consternation at the Air Corps base. After being contacted by the private jet company flying the Taoiseach to Copenhagen in November last year, a Commandant at the base told the Department of Defence it was the “second interaction from an external organisation which we have not been briefed in on and are blind to”. A tender to find the Learjet’s successor was published in November last year, with the government set to spent €45 million on the aircraft. The Department was informed by the Commandant that “numerous things need to be put in place and staffing in order to handle any additional non-military” flights, and that these plans cannot be put in place unless they were provided with the information from the Department. Government officials have previously stated that they had lost “all confidence” in the Learjet, however, an internal Defence Forces report on the future of the aircraft suggests that 2023 may have been “somewhat of an anomaly”, with previous years indicating the Learjet had a “good rate of serviceability”. The Air Corps have thus suggested that the Learjet serve as a backup option for forthcoming Ministerial transport missions, while the government continues to progress in replacing the jet. A tender to find the Learjet’s successor was published in November last year, with the government set to spent €45 million on the aircraft.

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    Developer who entombed badgers walked away with Probation Act instead of a conviction after promise to pay money to wildlife charities

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    Con McCarthy paid €15,000 to walk away from conviction for unprecedented case of suffocating badgers near Citywest. By Donna Mullen. Con McCarthy, a developer, planned to construct a warehouse in Brownsbarn, Citywest, Dublin, and hired an ecologist, Brian Keeley, to conduct a badger survey in February 2022. Brian Keeley found two adult badgers bringing bedding into a sett and presumed that they were breeding. He made the developer aware of the badger sett and was asked to step down from working on the project. Later when he went to see the site, he found that the sett had been destroyed, and a large mound of clay was on the area. It is likely that the badgers were entombed. That Con Mc Carthy…. used, allowed and/or caused to be used a mechanically propelled vehicle to wit, plant machinery to aid the commission of an offence under the Wildlife Acts as amended, to wit, the destruction of a badger sett, in contravention of section 69 (7)(A) of the Wildlife Act 1976 as amended The government’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) were immediately called, and the developer said that the sett had been destroyed while a fence was being erected. The case went to the District Court and the developer was convicted on the following charge (1) with reference to charges 2 and 3 below: (1)    “Con Mc Carthy, on dates between 1st April 2022 and 25 May 2022, both dates inclusive, at Brownsbarn, County Dublin, wilfully interfered with the breeding or resting place of a protected wild animal to wit, a badger sett, in contravention of Section 23(5)(d) of the Wildlife Act 1976 as amended. Two other charges were taken into consideration. (2)    That Con Mc Carthy …did aid abet, procure or counsel the commission of an offence under the Wildlife Acts as amended, to wit, the wilful destruction of a badger sett, in contravention of Section 23(5)(d) and Section 69(1)of the wildlife Act, 1976, as amended. (3)    That Con Mc Carthy…. used, allowed and/or caused to be used a mechanically propelled vehicle to wit, plant machinery to aid the commission of an offence under the Wildlife Acts as amended, to wit, the destruction of a badger sett, in contravention of section 69 (7)(A) of the Wildlife Act 1976 as amended. Con Mc Carthy was convicted and fined 5000 euros. On 7 March 7, 2024, Con Mc Carthy appealed the severity of the conviction to the Circuit Court. NPWS District Conservation Officer Kieran Buckley showed photographs in court of a bank of clay on top of the sett, which would have entombed badgers. “The badgers probably would have suffocated from the sheer volume of clay” he said. “I’ve been enforcing the law for 20 years and this is the most wilfully cruel act I’ve seen”. Mr Brian Keeley , ecologist, took the stand “In my opinion, this was premeditated. This is a severe case. I’ve been a consultant since 1996 and haven’t seen this before. They just needed to keep the machinery 30 metres away from the sett. Much of my work involves working with developers to protect setts. I have a farm and we put up fences all the time. We don’t need to level all the ground”, he said. Mr Mc Carthy offered to make a donation to a charity if his criminal prosecution was reduced to having the probation act applied. Concern was raised by the barrister for NPWS that this could be seen as a developer “buying their way out”. He also said that a prosecution was more beneficial, because of the significant time and resources expended by NPWS. However, the judge asked for 15,000 euros to be split between three wildlife charities, and the conviction was not upheld.  Instead, the Probation Act, Section 1, was applied. Meanwhile, even though the case has been proven, the NPWS and the whistleblower cannot claim for their costs in this case, and the state pays for the case. The Beatles say that “Money can’t buy you love”. But in Irish courts, it seems it can buy you from the consequences of killing badger cubs.

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    Inside the negotiations for Ireland’s new national park

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    Government sole bidder on €11 million Dowth Hall estate purchase with millions more to be spent over the next few years. By Conor O’Carroll. The government was the sole bidder on the Dowth Hall estate, which was purchased for €11 million last year, documents released to Village Magazine reveal. The estate in County Meath, including an 18th-century Georgian residence, a Victorian manor and associated lands, was put up for sale in April 2023 across three separate lots, with a guide price of €10 million set for the entire 550-acre estate. This price included a nominal discount of €100,000 in comparison to purchasing each lot separately. A valuation report was prepared by estate agent Lisney Sotheby’s Int. on behalf of the Office of Public Works (OPW), who were liaising with the Department of Housing on the purchase. It stated that the market value of the entire estate fell within the range of €9,475,000 – €10,345,000, however, this report did not include the potential additional cost owing to the government being classified as a special purchaser. A special purchaser, as defined by the RICS Valuation Global Standards, is a buyer “for whom a particular asset has a special value because of advantages arising from its ownership that would not be available to other buyers in a market.” Once the site is opened to the public, the government expects almost €5.3 million in income will be earned from visits to the site over the first decade This means that special purchasers often pay more than the market value of the property due to their “over-riding motivation or business need for the asset”. In the case of Dowth Hall, the estate is of particular value to the State as it and its surrounding lands are situated within a UNESCO World Heritage Site, forming part of the pre-historic Brù na Bòinne site. The business case report for the purchase presented to the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien TD, and released under Freedom of Information to non-profit Right To Know, stated that the purchase of the Dowth estate was a “compelling” and “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to protect one of the “most historic and quite literally magical elements of Irish culture” from any “inappropriate development”. According to the Negotiated Purchase Price report released to Village Magazine, no other offers were made for the entire estate during the negotiations with the government, though an asking price offer of €2.85 million was made for the Victorian-era house, Netterville Manor. However, the agent advised that the vendor’s preference was to sell the entire estate as a single lot, strengthening the government’s position. An updated business case released to Village indicates that the cost for the first five years will be in the region of €23 million, according to a quantity survey conducted by the OPW Initially, an offer of €8 million was discussed verbally with the agent, though this was swiftly rejected with the government told: “an offer in excess of the guide [was required] to remove the property from the market and progress to sale agreed”. Internal emails show that officials at the OPW agreed to submit a formal offer “below or close to bottom end of market value” in June. An offer of €9 million was later submitted, however, again this was rejected, with the agent stating “it falls well short of market value and value of what is available specifically to the state agencies”. The rejection was also accompanied by a counter-offer of €12 million, with the addition of all equipment & machinery and all rights and ownership of the intellectual property related to the research platform at Dowth. These were valued at €1.2 million and €4.3 million respectively by the vendor. They also imposed a completion timeline of ten weeks. At this point, though the Department of Housing was interested in purchasing the additions included in the counter-offer, officials at the OPW urged caution and restraint in making another offer in quick succession as no other offers for the entire estate had been made. The imposed timeline was also considered to be “unrealistic”. The market value of the entire estate fell within the range of €9,475,000 – €10,345,000, however, this report did not include the potential additional cost owing to the government being classified as a special purchaser The equipment & machinery offered by the vendors included the furniture and artefacts from the properties, though it was determined that “none of the contents have any provenance to the house and most seem to need complete restoration”. “We don’t want to be in a situation where we agree to take on items that we have no use for and subsequently incur costs for the storage and/or repair, restoration of same”, an internal OPW email stated. A complete list of the additional items shared with the OPW included the deer fencing surrounding the property, CCTV system and vandal-proof toilets, as well as farm machinery and lab equipment. However, the OPW did not accept that some of these items represented additional value, with internal discussions concluding that many of the items “should be included in a normal sale”. In early July, the government returned with an improved offer of €11 million. This offer included the additional equipment & machinery and intellectual property rights. The furniture and artefacts were not of interest to the government, given their limited connection to property and state of disrepair, and so were not included in the offer. However, a pair of Irish rococo-style gilt mirrors and a pair of Victorian marble-topped pier tables valued at €25,000 were requested. This offer was proposed as the government’s “best and final offer” and just over 24 hours later, it was accepted by the vendors. The final price represents between a 6% and 16% increase over the brokerage advice received, though as the Negotiated Purchase Price report notes, the advice did not include the value of the “unique archaeological heritage of the estate, recent discoveries or consider the benefit of State ownership of a UNESCO Heritage site”. The

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    Third of OPW river maintenance fail quality audits

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    By Conor O’Carroll. Almost a third of Office of Public Works (OPW) quality audits of maintenance work on rivers and waterways last year failed to obtain a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ rating, according to documents released to Village Magazine. While the majority of audit reports were scored favourably, a number of reports also received a ‘poor’ or ‘bad’ score, with habitats disturbed, trees improperly removed and gorse removed during bird nesting season. Introduced in 1945 to maintain all rivers, embankments and urban flood-defences in “proper repair and effective condition”, the Arterial Drainage Act gives responsibility to the OPW for roughly 11,500km of channels across the country. As part of this maintenance, weeds, vegetation and low-hanging trees or branches are cleared from the channel to ensure that the flow of water is not blocked. Guidance notes from the OPW for environmental drainage maintenance state that bank slopes should be protected and excessive maintenance to the channel should be restricted. One of the failings identified in the OPW audits was the removal of all vegetation along the bank close to the Blanket Nook Wildlife Sanctuary in Donegal. The area is a popular bird-watching spot, with rare birds sometimes spotted as they migrate. The effect of the removal of the vegetation was exacerbated as it was carried out during bird nesting season, potentially causing substantial disruption. Work carried out along the River Corrib in Galway included the removal of dense gorse with a machine bucket during the bird breeding season. The auditor found that this work was entirely unnecessary as no maintenance was required of the channel or banks. Further failings identified by the audits include the removal of too much material from the channel bed along the River Clare, and the improper placement of removed sediment on the banks of the channel where it is at risk of slipping back down. The use of heavy machinery along the River Maigue in Cork was also criticised, with the works effected after heavy rainfall, making the ground unstable and causing soil along the banks to slipinto the channel. All these audits received a ‘bad’ or ‘poor’ score in their reports. An investigation by Noteworthy in 2022 identified similar problems, with a quarter of audits failing to meet ‘good’ or ‘very good’ standard. Reports obtained as part of the investigation found “instances where required environmental assessments were done after the vegetation was cleared, long-lasting damage to the Clare River from arterial drainage activities and negative impacts of arterial drainage on fish populations in Cork”. In 2018, the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) also accused the OPW of breaching national and European environmental legislation when it was found to have cleared the banks of the River Newport in Limerick. The river is part of the Lower River Shannon Special Area of Conservation and an important habitat for Atlantic salmon. Despite this, a kilometre of the river bank was stripped completely bare of all vegetation by the OPW, with its own assessment of the works stating it intended to carry out minimal work, causing no damage to the river. A quality audit found the removal of dense gorse from the Corrib during the birdbreeding season. was entirely unnecessary as no maintenance was required of the channel or banks As a result of these failings on the part of the OPW, many environmental groups and campaigners have sought to reform the Arterial Drainage Act, claiming that it is no longer fit for purpose and is instead leading to the “destruction of whole river systems”. A petition calling for reform of what the IWT call an “archaic piece of legislation not fit for the 21st century” was presented to Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan TD in July 2021, underwritten by over 5,000 signatories. The Act has also come under scrutiny recently from the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. The Assembly asserted that the Act “is no longer fit for purpose and must be reviewed and updated in order to take proper account of the biodiversity and the climate crisis”. Instead, the Assembly suggested, nature-based approaches should be used in “State and community programmes to tackle flood management”. These approaches, known as Natural Water Retention Measures, slow down the flow of water and reduce the risk of flooding using the natural processes of rivers and their floodplains and are considered far more environmentally friendly than the current approach pushed by the Arterial Drainage Act.

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    Roscommon County Council targets environmental group over flood relief scheme

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    By Conor O’Carroll. Roscommon County Council has taken aim at an environmental advocacy group over its legal challenge to flood relief works at Lough Funshinagh. In a press statement released last week, the Council said that water levels at the South Roscommon lake were “extremely high for this time of year”, following considerable rainfall in the area in recent weeks. The statement reiterated a commitment by the Council to “providing whatever flood protection measures can be provided”, but also targeted environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) over its High Court action which prevented an emergency flood relief scheme from being implemented. “Due to the High Court challenge taken by Friends of the Irish Environment against Roscommon County Council, flood relief works that would have protected homes, property and public infrastructure in the general vicinity of the lake cannot be completed and no new works can be undertaken”, the Council said. FIE director Tony Lowes said that their organisation “stood in solidarity with communities in areas such as Middleton and Lough Funshinagh who are impacted by climate change” Under the proposals, the Council had sought to construct a 3km pipeline to take water from Lough Funshinagh to an area near Lough Ree, the second largest lake on the River Shannon. However, Lough Funshinagh is a Special Area of Conservation, granting it additional legal protections under EU law. In 2022, FIE secured a High Court order after it brought a judicial review against the Council, arguing it had breached European environmental laws. The Court ordered Roscommon County Council to quash their decision to approve the scheme meaning they are not able to use the sections of the pipeline already constructed without approval from the High Court. Because of the court order, the Council’s press release continues, measures aimed at combatting the rising waters are “limited to localised flood defences and pumping in the immediate vicinity of the affected properties”. Locals remain concerned with the rising water levels and unresolved flood relief. Speaking to the Roscommon Herald, Matthew Beattie of the Lough Funshinagh Flood Crisis Committee said: “What was once a beautiful village is now totally destroyed and everyone around is living in constant fear from October to April each year, not knowing what the winter will bring”. Responding to the statement from Roscommon County Council, FIE director Tony Lowes said that their organisation “stood in solidarity with communities in areas such as Middleton and Lough Funshinagh who are impacted by climate change”.   “We appreciate the anguish and anxiety that people are experiencing in the local area”, he continued but argued that FIE should not be blamed for challenging the Council’s plan and upholding the law. A statement released by FIE further argued that Roscommon County Council were suggesting that “the organisation which challenged it in Court is somehow responsible for the predicament of the local community”. In 2022, FIE secured a High Court order after it brought a judicial review against the Council, arguing it had breached European environmental laws “It is unacceptable for a public authority”, the FIE statement continued, “to seek to blame our organization for upholding the law of the land. If that is what is actually being suggested by the Council, then it is an extraordinary position for a public authority to hold”. Roscommon County Council have said that work on a long-term solution for Lough Funshinagh is underway.

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