Poolbeg Incinerator Affair Complicit With Recklessness and Lacks Any Accountability?

“If the leaders of a society are not prepared to hold themselves accountable or there are not the institutions which are sufficiently independent to hold them accountable, then I think you have a very serious problem on your hands.”

Mr Fitzgerald.

The Irish Times - Saturday, March 6, 2010

 Is Poolbeg Incinerator Affair Complicit With Recklessness?

Is there a serious problem with the Poolbeg Planning process?  That underhand and predetermined process was rubber stamped by these politically controlled and possibly unaccountable institutions:

• Environmental Regulator EPA

• Planning Regulator Bord Pleanála

• Economic 'Institute' ESRI [DCC Massaged Spin on Incinerator Health Costs]

 

Here are a few questions on the apparently rigged Poolbeg Incinerator Hearings.  They attempt to emulate the views on business in Ireland as expressed by Niall Fitzgerald, former chairman & CEO of Unilever, chairman of Reuters.

• In order to pursue a consulting career in Ireland's waste industry is it necessary to compromise one's principles?

• Are the promoters of the proposed Poolbeg Incinerator aware of the health and financial risks that will be taken and are they thus “complicit with recklessness”? 

• Or are they unaware of what is going on and are thus failing to discharge their responsibilities as public servants?

Here are some pointers for your own research to answer these questions: 

The Ignored McKechnie Judgement




RPS Spin on Health




CBRE Spin on Property




Professor Dr Staines Health Study Request Ignored




Air Quality "Errors" by Expert DCC Consultant




Taxpayer Financial Intimidation by City Manager


Covanta Record of Pollution Violations


Bankster Politicians Jumping In Front of Parades


IGB Poolbeg: Dodgy DDDA & Reckless Anglo-Irish Bank


The Boomtown Rats

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“unless I was prepared to engage more directly with politicians . . . and at some point be ready to compromise on my own principles, that that would restrict my abilities to develop a business career in Ireland”.

  Mr Fitzgerald.

The Irish Times - Saturday, March 6, 2010

Mr Fitzgerald left Ireland in 1970 and went on to become chairman and chief executive of the giant conglomerate Unilever and chairman of the global media agency Reuters.

Top Irish businessman rails at 'intertwining with politics'

 FINTAN O'TOOLE   [Emphasis added in this blog posting]

ONE OF Ireland’s most successful businessmen, Niall Fitzgerald, has told The Irish Times he did not feel that he could have pursued a business career in Ireland without compromising his personal principles.

Mr Fitzgerald left Ireland in 1970 and went on to become chairman and chief executive of the giant conglomerate Unilever and chairman of the global media agency Reuters.

In an interview published today, Mr Fitzgerald suggests that “many people in domestic Irish business succeeded because they were intertwined with politics” and that “unless I was prepared to engage more directly with politicians . . . and at some point be ready to compromise on my own principles, that that would restrict my abilities to develop a business career in Ireland”.

Mr Fitzgerald is critical of what he calls the “claustrophobia” of Irish business. He says “that very intimacy, the knowledge that you can take one small envelope and write all the names that matter on the back of it” militated against independent jjudgment and high ethical standards, contributing to the current crisis in the Irish economy.

Recalling a dinner last summer with friends who had served on the boards of Irish banks, Mr Fitzgerald (himself a director of Bank of Ireland during the 1990s) says he posed a question: Were they aware of the risks that were being taken and thus “complicit with the recklessness”? Or were they unaware of what was going on and thus failing to discharge their responsibilities as directors? The question, he says, prompted a “very ferocious conversation”.

Mr Fitzgerald is also critical of the argument that banks must continue to pay very high salaries to retain senior managers. “You mean, these terribly valuable people who either didn’t understand the risks they were running or understood them and continued anyway without thought for the consequences? You know what? I could do without those valuable people.”

He also criticises high-level business people and bankers who are going into exile in tax havens such as Switzerland. He is, he says, “deeply sad” that some seem obsessed with “how you avoid at almost any cost to yourself and your family being a supportive member of the wider society in which you live”.

Mr Fitzgerald expresses concerns about the ability of those in positions of power to take responsibility for what has happened. “If the leaders of a society are not prepared to hold themselves accountable or there are not the institutions which are sufficiently independent to hold them accountable, then I think you have a very serious problem on your hands.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2010/0306/1224265713249.html?via=mr

IRELAND: Unacceptable Influence in Poolbeg Incinerator Process

An Bord Pleanála Directorate?

EPA Directorate?

ESRI Directorate?

__________________________

Who appointed directorate level employees to An Bord Pleanála, EPA, ESRI, RTE and others between 1995 and 2010? 

Board of Bord Pleanála

RPS represents Dublin City Council's incinerator team and has a "former" RPS employee on the Board of Bord Pleanála.  Apparently RPS received the majority of €25 Million in 'consultancy fees' from Dublin City Council, with DCC apparently controlled by The Galway Tent.

EPA Ireland

EPA's "independent" Board contains a former industry employee (Burke of Indaver), a situation condemned by The Green Party in 2005.  An ex-EPA Director has worked to promote the Poolbeg Incinerator and the failed West Dublin Incinerator.

 

ESRI

DUBLIN CITY Council paid almost €125,000 for a February 2010 Economic and Social Research Institute report.  This report was published in Dublin on the day of a Covanta media event in Dublin - purely a coincidence says the ESRI's report writer.

CBRE

In April 2007, CBRE's Director of Research made a curious presentation to the Poolbeg Incinerator Oral Hearing, under the influence of DCC.   Was the Bord Pleanála Inspector fully informed?   Was this an early indicator for Judge McKechnie's unapproved judgement?

RTE

"Artistic images" of the incinerator are widely used by RTE.  Do these images truly and fully honestly inform?  Do they come directly from the incinerator promoters?  Has RTE fully informed the public?

Irish Times

Does the Irish Times provide robust critical insight to the talking points it receives from Dublin City Council?   Has The Irish Times declared the sums in advertising revenue which it has received from RPS and Dublin Council over the past ten years?  Has The Irish Times investigated and reported the history of Covanta's contracts and Covanta's history of fines for the management of its modern incinerators?  Has The Irish Times investigated the Poolbeg Incinerator process, a process supposedly carried out in the public interest? 

Unacceptable Influence

"Massaging of reports by Matt Twomey, which were later, in their edited versions, released publicly, is a strong indicator to me of unacceptable influence in a process supposedly carried out in the public interest."  Judge McKechnie said in his unapproved judgment.  [Sunday Business Post]

Covanta Recruitment of Public Official - HowTo

[Future Covanta Employee] BEFORE THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY ETHICS COMMISSION
Waiver No. 05-11-008.    

2005 AD 

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/ethics/docs/w2005-08.pdf

• Mr. Balmer acknowledges that he has significantly participated in contractual activity with two of the three companies he would like to pursue post-County employment with: Covanta and Waste Management.

• The Commission finds that Mr. Balmer's proposed employment with Convanta or Waste Management is not likely to create an actual conflict of interest if he does not work on any project within the State of Maryland.

The Ethics Division in Maryland's spelling is "Convanta".   Homer believes "Covanta" is the more truthful spelling.  Maryland's governor in 2010 is Governor Martin O'Malley, a fine musician(a).

In 2007, Arthur Balmer, a Scot, was Director - Business Development for the US office of Covanta.   Before that he was Montgomery County (USA)’s project manager for the Authority’s $290 million Resource Recovery Facility.

Arthur Balmer

• 2007: Covanta Chief salesman ["Director - Business Development for the US office of Covanta"]

• [1987-2005] : 1) project manager for the Authority’s $290 million "Resource Recovery Facility" (aka Incinerator?); 2) management of the county’s Solid Waste Disposal and Collection Fund Operating Budgets, which exceed $90 million per year

In Ireland public officials can legally jump between the incineration industry and   regulators and public waste management positions.  An example is RPS and Bord Pleanála, or EPA-Ireland and Indaver - condemned by the Green Party before they became the Forty Shades of Greed Party.

In Washington D.C. there seems to be a one year cooling off period before a public employee can work for Convanta.  However all you need is a piece of paper to get around such difficulties, correctly done of course.  

From a 2005 document from Washington D.C. the local equivalent of a Matt Twomey or a Mr Tierney or a Mr Lyons or a failed Green Party enthusiast seems to have been Arthur G. Balmer:

Arthur G. Balmer has worked for the County since June 1987, and has served as the Chief of the Solid Waste Services Division in the Department of Public Works and Transportation since October 1994.

For one year after leaving County employment, a former employee must not enter into any employment agreement with any person or business if, during the prior three years, the employee significantly participated in any procurement or other contractual activity concerning a contract with that person or business.  [Restriction NA in Green-FF Ireland?]

Arthur G. Balmer, Chief of the Solid Waste Services Division, seeks a waiver of this prohibition in order to pursue post-County employment with any of the following three major waste-to-energy companies or their subsidiaries: Covanta Holding Corporation (with 31 facilities), Waste Management, Inc. (with 17 facilities), and Veolia Environment (with 7 facilities).  [2010: Covanta owns Veolia].

Mr. Balmer reports that his oversight responsibilities have included

• almost all of the engineering and construction companies engaged in construction and waste management in Montgomery County and nationally. 

•  negotiating many multimillion dollar contracts  including ... most of the major private solid waste companies.

Mr. Balmer acknowledges that he has significantly participated1 in contractual activity with two of the three companies he would like to pursue post-County employment with: Covanta and Waste Management.

The Commission finds that Mr. Balmer s proposed employment with Convanta or Waste Management is not likely to create an actual conflict of interest if he does not work on any project within the State of Maryland.

________________________

(a) O'Malley's March album, "Galway Races" is a galloping, electrified folk song about Ireland's largest annual horse-racing festival. O'Malley was mayor of Baltimore, 1999-2007, the period covered by HBO's The Wire.   


View HBO's The Wire for a fictional view of ethics and political standards in nearby Baltimore, Maryland.  View HBO's The Soprano's for a fictional view on the waste management industry as practiced in New Jersey.  Visit nearby Washington DC to see 100,000 lawyers lobbying the US Government with money to influence laws and budgets.  Visit Brussels to see the German Chemicals industry working to fix air quality standards across Europe.

Gormley Lies In Dail About Poolbeg Incinerator Process?

The Gormley

In The Dail on Dec 2, 2009, referring to the proposed Poolbeg Incinerator, Mr J Gormley stated:

"In carrying out their functions, planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála, and the EPA in regard to waste licensing, act independently of the Minister."

Is the above statement tresspassing on a lie? Or simply not fully truthful?  Or just part of the spin process known as The Big Lie?

• The Greens have stated the "EPA is utterly compromised" [Boyle]. EPA's "independent" Board contains a former industry employee (Burke of Indaver).  An ex-EPA Director has worked to promote the Poolbeg Incinerator and the failed West Dublin Incinerator.
  

• In office Mr Gormley has not corrected EPA's apparently dodgy corporate governance.

• RPS represents Dublin City Council's incinerator team and has a former RPS employee on the Board of Bord Pleanála 

• In office Mr Gormley has not corrected Bord Pleanála's apparently dodgy corporate governance. 

• Compare & contrast:  DDDA and Anglo-Irish Bank.
• In office Mr Gormley has apparently not corrected DDDA's dodgy corporate governance and supports the non-bankruptcy of the cowboy Anglo-Irish Bank.  Serious potential conflicts remain in place. 
  

_______________

Green Party Press Release, Issued: 18 July 2004

http://galwaytent.blogspot.com/search/label/EPA%20Compromise...

Green Party TD Dan Boyle said today, The appointment of Ms. Burke, having worked with Indaver Ireland, the company proposing the development of a domestic waste incinerator at Carranstown, County Meath and a toxic waste incineration at Ringaskiddy, Cork, utterly compromises the position of the EPA as a body seen by the public as being independent and impartial.

______________________________

http://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2009-12-02.789.0&s=poolbeg+incinerator#g790.10

Dáil debates

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Poolbeg Incinerator

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) Link to this

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to raise this matter which is of great importance in my constituency. It is also significant for the people of Dublin and nationally. It relates to the implications of the decision by Dublin City Council, through public private partnership, to commence the construction of an incinerator in the Poolbeg area on 14 December. 

I am more than disappointed with the Minister, Deputy John Gormley’s behaviour concerning this proposed incinerator in the past two years since he entered the Department of the Environment. When he took up office, I had high hopes and expectations. The high standards he set for his predecessor in Government in our mutual constituency, the then Minister, Michael McDowell, made it very clear that the Minister, Deputy Gormley, expected nothing less from Mr. McDowell, as a member of Cabinet, than to put a stop to the proposed incinerator. In March 2005, the Minister, Deputy Gormley, said the time had come for the Minister to stop bleating and deliver to his constituents as promised.

It is clear to me there is more than one sheep in Dublin South-East because there has been plenty of bleating from this Minister over the course of the past two years and many years prior to that when he was a very vocal and outspoken Opposition Deputy who was clearly opposed to this incinerator. It is a pity that the high standards the Minister set for the former Minister when he was in office appear not to apply to him in his high office now.

He has had two opportunities. The first was in the original programme for Government which was negotiated in 2007. I put it on the record then and I called on the Minister to seek agreement from his colleagues in Cabinet to commit to stopping the incinerator at Poolbeg. He failed to do so, but he had a second opportunity some months ago. Again, I hoped and expected that something would be achieved on that occasion, but, yet again, no agreement was secured at Cabinet level. On two occasions the Minister has failed the people of Dublin South-East and has failed me as his colleague because I held him in very high regard.

On 26 November, the company which was contracted to build the incinerator, Covanta Europe, lodged a notice with Dublin City Council to begin construction. The plan is to start on 14 December. I would like to know what the Minister plans to do about this. There were plenty of reports in the media in recent weeks stating that Dublin City Council has threatened legal action against the Government if it acts to interfere with the process as set out by the council. Has the Minister given any consideration to whether there is an opportunity for the Government to initiate legal proceedings, for example, with an injunction to prevent this preposterous monstrous incinerator from going ahead? Has he consulted the Attorney General?

I reiterate my point. The approval to build this incinerator will create a monster. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, was very vocal on this issue until 2007 when he became a member of the Cabinet. It is intended that the incinerator will have the capacity to burn 600,000 tonnes of waste on an annual basis. That is far too much. The report carried out by An Bord Pleanála inspector recommended to the board that the capacity of this incinerator should be reduced and, at very minimum, that it should not go ahead as a 600,000 tonne-eating furnace in its proposed format. That was ignored by the board of An Bord Pleanála.

If we are to take the Minister seriously in his role, both as a constituency Deputy for Dublin South-East and as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, surely the blatant and flagrant ignoring of the recommendations of the internal inspector’s report to An Bord Pleanála merited investigation by him. The Minister had the power and authority to do this but failed to act. I am very disappointed by that. The Minister is in the process of appointing somebody to initiate a review under the powers afforded to him by section 224 of the Local Government Act. Clearly, however, this is an investigation that will be carried out after the horse has bolted. According to a response the Minister gave less than two weeks ago to a parliamentary question I tabled, he had not appointed anybody to carry out the review at that point. I am not aware that he has appointed anybody since then. He may enlighten the House now. Does the Minister propose to appoint somebody after the trucks have trundled down to Poolbeg to begin construction? Will it be in January after the foundations have been laid?

I do not understand the Minister’s motive or purpose, which appears to be futile. If something is not done before 14 December, we can hang up our boots and regard the development as going ahead. That the Minister has failed to address this is a shocking indictment of him, bearing in mind that he has been in one of the highest offices in the land for more than two years.

The Irish Waste Management Association agrees with my point on this matter. Any objective observer will see quite clearly that, by having an incinerator of this magnitude, we are disincentivising recycling and waste reduction and negating all the values the Minister’s party and he, as its leader, have espoused for many years. That is very disappointing.

Add your comment

John Gormley (Minister, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government; Dublin South East, Green Party) Link to this

I was on a television programme some nights ago being harangued by members of Fine Gael who were telling me I should do more about floods. In the audience was a Fine Gael councillor who had rezoned land in a flood plain. I now feel like I did on that night because, as Deputy Creighton will know, it was her party that introduced the legislation to provide for incineration and her party, along with other Opposition parties, that voted for this proposal in 1998. Those are the facts and the difficulties with which I must deal.

As the Deputy is aware, waste management infrastructure projects are advanced by private sector service providers or by local authorities. It is a matter for the promoters of such projects to seek and obtain the necessary regulatory approvals, i.e. planning permission and a waste licence. In carrying out their functions, planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála, and the EPA in regard to waste licensing, act independently of the Minister.
 
Similarly, the commencement notice is a matter for the local authority concerned and its private partner.

Since taking office, I have continually stressed my twin environmental priorities of dealing with climate change issues and ensuring that we make the necessary quantum leap in how we manage our waste. We must explore the full range of technical solutions in addition to modifying our behaviour in support of sustainable waste management. Undue emphasis on incineration as the cornerstone of waste management policy is detrimental to the development of alternative solutions and the transition to sustainable management of waste and resources. In particular, I am concerned that the provision of excess incinerator capacity can create an economic incentive to send waste to incineration which could effectively have been dealt with by reuse or recycling.

As a first step in my approach to modernising and reorienting the waste management sector, I arranged for an international consortium of consultants to undertake a comprehensive study on the waste sector, to cover a wide range of issues which will help identify how best to proceed with further efforts to reduce waste levels, improve recycling rates and deliver equitable and cost-effective waste management solutions. On 19 November, I published the consultants’ report. This will be the launching pad for the policies we now need to mark a new departure in our approach to waste management.

I am discussing with my colleagues in Government proposals to give effect to recommendations of the waste management policy review which will, inter alia, ensure the proper ordering of the waste collection and wider waste management market. I want to provide certainty for those in the waste management sector and a framework within which the necessary legislative changes can be brought forward.

The quantities of residual waste currently being collected by the Dublin local authorities would not be sufficient to meet the put-or-pay requirement in the incinerator contract into which Dublin City Council has entered. We have recently seen further increases in recycling rates in Dublin with a corresponding drop in residual waste volumes. Importantly, the recommendations of the report published on 19 November, which I intend to implement, will have the effect of further reducing the volumes of residual waste generated and driving more waste towards recycling.

I am, therefore, concerned that the proposed incinerator will prove to be seriously oversized and that a liability for the ratepayer and taxpayer may ultimately arise. Dublin City Council is in a 25-year contract in regard to the incinerator and any liability is, therefore, potentially very substantial. In these circumstances, I have decided that the most appropriate course of action is to appoint an authorised person under section 224 of the Local Government Acts to conduct a full review of the financial implications of the project for the State in the event that the incinerator is oversized vis-À-vis the quantities of residual waste available in the Dublin area and the quantities controlled by Dublin City Council.

Shut Cross-Contaminated Developer's Autocracy (DDDA)

KEEP OUT!
DEVELOPERS AUTOCRACY!

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Bradshaw Fits Patrick Fits Bradshaw.

• During the watch of the honourable Bradshaw and the honourable FitzPatrick the Dirty Dublin Developers Autocracy (DDDA) defined historic sections of Sandymount Strand and Ireland's national heritage as part of their docklands empire, signed off by Dick Roach, thus destroying James Joyce's elated moment on Sandymount Strand with his hand in his own pocket.
  

• The pair were also co-investors in a number of projects, including Fresh Mortgages, the Irish sub-prime lender that suspended its new loans in November. Most of their investments have not been publicised.

Their dual memberships of the Anglo and DDDA boards drew criticism from various quarters, given the bank’s involvement in funding projects in the area. In particular, the DDDA was a large investor along with Bernard McNamara and others in a vehicle called Becbay that paid €412 million to buy the former Irish Glass site in Ringsend. That transaction was funded by Anglo. Check it yourself

_____________________

Niamh Brennan Opinion: "Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile"
Extracts

• Seán FitzPatrick and Lar Bradshaw were what is called, interlocking directors - Seán FitzPatrick served on the board of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority where Lar Bradshaw was chairman and vice versa.
  

However, the board expressed its "complete satisfaction" that the independence of the directors was not compromised, notwithstanding these three breaches of best practice standards.
...

In the final analysis, no laws, no rules, no regulations can prevent greedy, self-serving behaviour by company directors. All they can do is make such behaviour harder to engage in. Add to this, that greedy, self-serving people seek each other out. The old Irish phrase "Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile" (one "beetle" recognises another) captures this aspect of corporate life beautifully. More at Irish Times.

Niamh Brennan is Michael MacCormac professor of management at University College Dublin, and is academic director of the Centre for Corporate Governance at UCD

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2008/1220/1229725700373.html

____________

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2008/1220/1229725700366_pf.html

Bradshaw quits as joint loan with FitzPatrick revealed

CIARÁN HANCOCK, Business Affairs Correspondent

Sat, Dec 20, 2008

SEÁN FITZPATRICK’S resignation from Anglo Irish Bank on Thursday grabbed all the headlines, but he wasn’t the only director to fall on his sword.

Former McKinsey Ireland chief Lar Bradshaw also took his leave after it emerged that he had taken out a joint loan with Mr FitzPatrick, which was temporarily transferred to Irish Nationwide Building Society before its September 30th year-end.

This had the effect of hiding the loan from shareholders in the bank’s annual report.

The size of this joint loan was not revealed and Mr FitzPatrick said Mr Bradshaw had “no knowledge” of the temporary transfer of the funds.

Born in Dublin in 1960, Bradshaw spent 20 years with the blue chip management consulting firm McKinsey, working overseas and latterly as managing director of its Irish operation, which he founded.

He holds a Master’s in Business Administration degree from IMD in Switzerland.

Records at the Companies Registration Office show that he holds 12 directorships here, although that included Anglo.

He is listed as executive chairman of Cove Capital.

Bradshaw and FitzPatrick not only served together on the board of Anglo, which Bradshaw joined in 2004 – they were also both board members of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, which had a multi-billion budget to redevelop 1,300 acres in the faded docks area.

The pair were also co-investors in a number of projects, including Fresh Mortgages, the Irish sub-prime lender that suspended its new loans in November. Most of their investments have not been publicised.

It did emerge, however, that Bradshaw invested in the Derek Quinlan-led group that backed the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin.

On May 3rd, 1997, Bradshaw was appointed as chairman of the fledgling DDDA by John Bruton’s coalition government, a position he held for 10 years. He was said at the time to have no political affiliations.

At the time of his appointment, The Irish Times quoted a source as saying that Bradshaw was chosen to head the DDDA because of his “relative youth, expertise and incredible vision”.

Their dual memberships of the Anglo and DDDA boards drew criticism from various quarters, given the bank’s involvement in funding projects in the area.

In particular, the DDDA was a large investor along with Bernard McNamara and others in a vehicle called Becbay that paid €412 million to buy the former Irish Glass site in Ringsend.

That transaction was funded by Anglo.

Small in stature, Bradshaw was described by one senior financier as a “good man for building relationships and making introductions, but not one for detailed negotiations”.

One source said he successfully built relationships with the existing local communities in the Docklands, who found their daily lives disrupted enormously by the major construction work that has taken place over the past decade.

“He was able to play the role of the ‘real Dub’ even though he was groomed by McKinsey,” said one source. “It was a neat trick.”

Following his resignation from Anglo, and the questions that remain about the circumstances of his joint loan, Bradshaw will need all of his skills of persuasion if he is to rebuild his reputation.

© 2008 The Irish Times

=====================

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Reputation of Ireland Inc is under spotlight after resignations

More in Irish Times »

• Regulator stumbled on loans during inspection of rival bank's books
• 'Board has accepted resignation with regret'
• Drumm follows chairman in leaving Anglo
• Irish Nationwide denies impropriety in repeated loans to FitzPatrick
• Resignations will not interrupt recapitalisation
• Shock in financial circles at how FitzPatrick could have hidden loans for eight years

OPINION: There are questions about the behaviour of Anglo's board and management, the auditors and the regulators, writes Niamh Brennan

THE REPUTATION of Ireland Inc is again under the spotlight with the resignation of Anglo Irish Bank's chairman Seán FitzPatrick, chief executive David Drumm and non-executive director Lar Bradshaw for their roles in hiding loans to Seán Fitzpatrick from shareholders.

Seán FitzPatrick's loan raises many questions. Will the borrowings be repaid? Were the borrowings used for legitimate purposes? Were the borrowings used to prop up Anglo's share price?

There are also questions about the behaviour of the board, the management of the bank, the auditors and the regulators.

The Stock Exchange's Combined Code on Corporate Governance is not mandatory. Non-compliance is permitted, provided it is explained. The Anglo Irish board availed of this comply-or-explain derogation in a number of ways.

For example, the board deviated from the combined code requirement that a former chief executive should not become chairman of the company. The combined code objective is that no one person in a company should dominate. This requirement is fundamental, and very few companies ignore it. By retaining his power in the company Mr FitzPatrick reduced the risk of his loans being disclosed.

Mr FitzPatrick served on the board since 1985, while another so-called independent director was appointed in 1988. Under the combined code nine years is the maximum period of service permitted for a non-executive director to be described as independent.

Seán FitzPatrick and Lar Bradshaw were what is called, interlocking directors - Seán FitzPatrick served on the board of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority where Lar Bradshaw was chairman and vice versa.

However, the board expressed its "complete satisfaction" that the independence of the directors was not compromised, notwithstanding these three breaches of best practice standards.

Management in the bank must have (or should have) known that the loans were to Mr FitzPatrick. Know-your-customer is a key requirement of money laundering regulations - that is why bank customers have to produce passports and utility bills when opening new bank accounts. Mr FitzPatrick must have had the assistance of one or more executives to move his borrowings to Irish Nationwide and back to Anglo Irish Bank each accounting year-end over an eight-year period.

This is bad for Ireland Inc. Everyone charged with the governance of public and public-interest companies has a duty to protect Ireland's reputation in world markets and confidence in its financial institutions for the good of all its citizens - none more than the financial regulator. It is, therefore, puzzling to learn that "warehousing" of Seán FitzPatricks borrowings in Irish Nationwide was discovered by financial regulator staff in January 2008, yet there was a delay of 11 months before a team of inspectors was sent to Anglo Irish Bank in early December 2008. Is this appropriately responsive to protect Ireland's reputation as a good place to do business?

Given that the office of the financial regulator knew about this transaction as far back as January 2008, why was it not raised during the all-night discussions in the Department of Finance in September prior to the introduction of the State guarantee scheme?

Another aspect I don't understand is why the financial regulator is reported as stating that it does not appear that anything illegal took place. Surely, at the very least, there is evidence of breach of the common law fiduciary duty for directors - that they do not put there own personal interests ahead of the company? Also, is not telling the truth in the financial statements an offence?

Seán Fitzpatrick has referred to Ireland's regulatory regime as "corporate McCarthyism". The New York Times dubbed Ireland "the wild west of European finance". Two very contrasting views!

In the golden days of the Celtic Tiger it was "light-touch regulation" all the way. But, are the risks associated with light-touch regulation justifiable? Does light-touch regulation safeguard the billions of funds invested in Ireland or will these funds be withdrawn to more reputable jurisdictions? Are the thousands of jobs in the financial services sector more secure by virtue of light-touch regulation? Are wealthy investors attracted to countries with a robust regulatory regime or with a light-touch regime?

In the final analysis, no laws, no rules, no regulations can prevent greedy, self-serving behaviour by company directors. All they can do is make such behaviour harder to engage in. Add to this, that greedy, self-serving people seek each other out. The old Irish phrase "Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile" (one "beetle" recognises another) captures this aspect of corporate life beautifully.

Niamh Brennan is Michael MacCormac professor of management at University College Dublin, and is academic director of the Centre for Corporate Governance at UCD

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times

Bradshaw and FitzPatrick not only served together on the board of Anglo, which Bradshaw joined in 2004 – they were also both board members of the Dublin Docklands Developers Authority, which had a multi-billion budget to redevelop 1,300 acres in the faded docks area.

Anglo Irish Bank, Dublin Docklands Authority, Revolving Doors, DDDA

Part Two: DDDA, Anglo Irish Bank & Revolving Doors

Recommended by Professor Garelli: An awesome piece of perception management for international investors. It solves the corporate governance issue for Anglo Irish Bank and the DDDA. Why have two interlocked heads as chairmen of Anglo and of DDDA when you can economise with just one! Garelli's next World Competitiveness Survey will perhaps quantitise the damage done to Ireland Inc by one of his former MBA students, with patriotic parallels to George Bush MBA.

• Anglo Irish Bank has appointed director Donal O'Connor as the new chairman of the bank.
• Donal O'Connor is also chairman of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.

No doubt this fixes the potential conflicts of interest and the revolving doors between the Dublin Developers Digout Autocracy and Anglo Irish. Perception is reality.

These potential conflicts will of course have nothing to do with honourable gentlemen recently resigning from both Anglo Irish Bank and also resigning from the obviously above-board DDDA. And the fact that Anglo's logo includes a pyramid has nothing whatsoever to do with Mr Ponzi and his schemes. And nothing to do with the Galway Tent's Great Celtic Tiger Pyramid Scheme of 2000 to 2008.

And nothing whatsoever to do with the huge hole DDDA-Becbay-Anglo is literally digging at the former IGB site in Ringsend where the added-value is now a negative €200 million to €300 million.

A year ago before the resignations, Senator Shane Ross reported:

April 29 2007

* Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick is on the board of the DDDA.
* DDDA chairman Lar Bradshaw is a board member of Anglo Irish Bank.
* DDDA owns 26 per cent of a company called Becbay.
* DDDA director Niamh O'Sullivan's day job is as a director of Arup Consulting.
* Mary Finan ... Bank of Ireland ... member of the DDDA council ... consultant to the DDDA

More: Part 1, ddda-anglo-irish-banks-revolving-doors.html

Pyramid Logo

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ref:
A) http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/anglo-chief-quits-after-hiding-euro87m--bank-loans-1580513.html
B) Shane Ross: Sunday Independent, Wheels Within Wheels article.

Dublin Docklands Authority, Anglo Irish Bank, Revolving Doors,

EPA: Mary Kelly - Head of EPA should resign.

"Dr. Kelly’s remarks are grossly partial toward the incineration industry and appear to be more helpful toward meeting their commercial needs rather than upholding proper environmental standard." Green Party (2003).

• Dr Mary Kelly's first day in 1995 at industry lobby group IBEC started with a breakfast meeting in the Environment Minister’s office.
• Her appointment by the Environment Minister to the EPA job in May 2002 led to criticism from environmental campaigners who described her as a poacher turned gamekeeper.
• 2003: Asked to resign because of grossly partial pro-incineration stance.
  

The incineration industry in the USA and in Ireland, including Covanta (USA, Poolbeg-Luxembourg & Rathcoole-Virgin-Islands), has hired former senior US and Irish EPA employees, so it’s quite possible both the US EPA and the Irish EPA are compromised.

There is a possibility that EPA-Ireland is totally honest and is not utterly compromised as stated by the Green Party of Ireland's Environment Minister. It is also possible the revolving doors at director level between EPA-Ireland, the IBEC Lobby, Indaver, Covanta-Poolbeg, Covanta/Energy Answers and “Independent Consultants” have no effect whatsoever.

The Green Party has called for her resignation over remarks about the development of incineration in Ireland (26^th August 2003):

Head of EPA should resign Following remarks that incinerators will be built throughout Ireland

The Green Party has called on Dr. Mary Kelly, Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency, to consider her resignation following remarks made by her in a newspaper article that domestic incinerators would be built throughout Ireland.

Green Party Cork South Central TD, Mr. Dan Boyle, in whose constituency it is proposed to locate a national toxic waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy, called for Dr. Kelly’s resignation today in the light of her comments that Ireland would get incinerators.

'Dr. Kelly’s comments are a resigning matter because they call into question the supposed impartial role of the EPA in assessing whether such incinerators should be allowed. Dr. Kelly’s remarks are grossly partial toward the incineration industry and appear to be more helpful toward meeting their commercial needs rather than upholding proper environmental standard,'.

Mr. Boyle said that the role of the EPA should be to make environmental needs paramount. “In her comments as Director General, Dr. Kelly has compromised that role and has undermined public confidence in the processes the EPA is involved in.'

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Footnote - The EPA In Practice:
The Environmental Protection Agency is guilty of gross negligence in the exercise of its duty of care to our Community. The EPA appear unwilling or unable to enforce the conditions of this licence. The EPA has on file at least 1,300 complaints.

Green Party: We also demand that the EPA do their job and Mary Kelly finally meets us face to face to account for her total failure to enforce the Waste Licence.

EPA: Laura Burke Employment History

_

________________EPA, Poolbeg Incinerator, Revolving Doors,

EPA: Anne Butler

The incineration industry in the USA and in Ireland, including Covanta (USA, Poolbeg-Luxembourg & Rathcoole-Virgin-Islands), has hired former senior US and Irish EPA employees, so it’s quite possible both the US EPA and the Irish EPA are compromised.

There is a possibility that EPA-Ireland is totally honest and is not utterly compromised as stated by the Green Party of Ireland's Environment Minister. It is also possible the revolving doors at director level between EPA-Ireland, the IBEC Lobby, Indaver, Covanta-Poolbeg, Covanta/Energy Answers and “Independent Consultants” have no effect whatsoever.

___________________________________

"By law the EPA must protect our families from dangerous chemicals," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the Senate committee's chairman. "Instead, they're protecting the chemical companies."

Green Party calls for removal of EPA director

http://greenparty.ie/en/news/news_archive
green_party_calls_for_removal_of_epa_director_due_to_unresolvable_conflict_of_interest
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Green Party calls for removal of EPA director due to unresolvable conflict of interest

Issued: 27 August 2004

Green Party calls for removal of EPA director due to unresolvable conflict of interest

The Green Party has today [August 2004] called for the removal of Environmental Protection Agency director, Ms Laura Burke, due to an unresolvable conflict of interest.

Ms Burke was formerly project manager for Indaver Ireland's planned incinerators at Ringaskiddy, County Cork and Carranstown, County Meath.

'Green Party Leader Trevor Sargent TD said today that, Ms Burke's position is no longer tenable. The fact that Ms Burke will not be allowed to attend the EPA board meeting, which will decide on the Ringaskiddy incinerator, only highlights the ongoing conflict of interest created by her appointment to the EPA. Her role as director utterly compromises the position of the EPA as a body seen by the public as being independent and impartial.

Ms Burke clearly should not have been appointed and should not continue. Apart from her lack of credibility in environmental protection arising from her previous role as a promoter of incineration, she effectively denies a more suitable expert a place on the EPA board. As a result, we now have a weaker EPA and a more vulnerable environment.

Minister Cullen has made a series of appointments to the executive board of the EPA which show all too clearly that he sees the Agency as protecting the interests of business, with environmental protection being given a very low priority.

poolbeg incinerator

Green Party: EPA-Ireland is Utterly Compromised.

Issued: 18 July 2004

Cullen's appointment of Indaver employee undermines confidence in the EPA

The Green Party has reacted angrily to the appointment by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Martin Cullen of Ms. Laura Burke, an Indaver employee, as a Director of the Environment Protection Agency.

Green Party TD Dan Boyle said today, The appointment of Ms. Burke, having worked with Indaver Ireland, the company proposing the development of a domestic waste incinerator at Carranstown, County Meath and a toxic waste incineration at Ringaskiddy, Cork, utterly compromises the position of the EPA as a body seen by the public as being independent and impartial.


Mr. Boyle said that the Minister for the Environment, Martin Cullen has made a series of appointments to the executive board of the EPA which show all too clearly that he sees the Agency as protecting the interests of business with environmental protection being given a very low priority.

While current waste licence applications are still being considered by the EPA, involvement in their decision making processes by people who have been attached to organisations which prepared such applications, utterly undermines the credibility of the agency.

We also note with interest that Indaver have speedily issued a press release welcoming the appointment.



poolbeg incinerator

Mr Gormley met Anne Butler [ Ex-10-Year EPA Director ]

Mr Gormley met Anne Butler, an environmental consultant hired by Energy Answers, in July 2008. Before being hired by the waste-to-toxins industry she was a director at Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency for 10 years.
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Energy Answers is an alias for Covanta, the proposed waste-to-toxins operator at Poolbeg.

http://galwaytent.blogspot.com/2008/07/green-leader-in-secret-meetings-over.html

http://galwaytent.blogspot.com/2008/07/environmental-enforcement-poolbeg.html

poolbeg incinerator

Planners 'Inappropriate Links' with Developers.

Dermot Desmond's Allegations

(Paraphrased - see full newspaper reports below)

• local authority attempted to change the City Development Plan "by the back door".

• "development in Dublin is developer-led ..."

• Dublin City Council has facilitated developers by changing planning law (aka 'zoning').

• Dublin City Council was trying to get around the development plan.

• "evidence of inappropriate links between planning officials and developers emerged before An Bord Pleanala"

• City Architect Jim Barrett was acting outside the development plan

____________________________________________

What bags? What Baggage Charges?
Does O'Leary Fly bags to The Isle of Man?
____________________________________________

Another Revolving Door

"A serious conflict of interest arose when Jim Barrett, recently retired City Architect, arrived to give evidence as part of Sean Dunne's project team. Jim Barrett had attended pre-application consultations with the developers,"

• Jim Barrett, recently retired City Architect
• Jim Barrett gave evidence as part of Developer's project team.
  

I'm With Permanent-TSB - I'm Not with Aggro-Irish Bankers. Honest.

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Desmond accuses Dublin's planners of 'inappropriate links' with the city's developers
By Cormac Murphy, Thursday October 23 2008

One of the country's leading businessmen has written a scathing letter to Dublin's city manager slamming "inappropriate links" between council planners and developers.

And tycoon Dermot Desmond referred in his letter to meetings between city planners and developer Sean Dunne over the latter's skyscraper proposal for Ballsbridge.

Mr Desmond also criticised what he termed a five-year effort by Dublin City Council "to set the stage for intensive development" in the Dublin 4 suburb.

This "concerted" bid included proposals for landmark buildings, new apartment guidelines and a paper on high-rise development.

And he told the capital's top council official, John Tierney, that the local authority attempted to change the City Development Plan "by the back door" to facilitate builders.

Addressed to Mr Tierney, the letter was also sent to Environment Minister John Gormley and Dublin city councillors.

High-rise

One such councillor, Tom Stafford (Fianna Fail), told the Herald he agreed with much of what Mr Desmond said, in particular that the council is intent on following a high-rise policy.

Mr Desmond wrote: "I am on record, on a number of occasions, expressing my concern that development in Dublin is developer-led instead of being determined on proper planning and design principles."

He said "we now have real evidence that this is the case" following the recent Bord Pleanala hearings into Mr Dunne's plan for the Jurys/ Berkeley Court site and developer Ray Grehan's proposal for an adjacent piece of land.

"The sequence of events which unfolded demonstrated how Dublin City Council has facilitated the desire of developers to change the zoning, density and height guidelines applicable to Ballsbridge sites purchased for record amounts," Mr Desmond stated.

He added: "Arising from the An Bord Pleanala hearings, we now have copies of minutes of pre-application consultations between the developers and Dublin City Council.

"Clear markers were given at such meetings that parts of the proposed developments did not fall within the development plan. So the developers should have been asked to drastically reduce and alter their schemes.

"However, the worrying aspect is that planning officials at Dublin City Council were instead looking at other policy initiatives which would get around the development plan and facilitate development of the kind proposed for this triangle site in Ballsbridge."

He told the city manager "all of these pre-application consultations and the drafting of favourable policy papers ... took place on your watch".

Mr Desmond said "evidence of inappropriate links between planning officials and developers emerged before An Bord Pleanala".

"A serious conflict of interest arose when Jim Barrett, recently retired City Architect, arrived to give evidence as part of Sean Dunne's project team. Jim Barrett had attended pre-application consultations with the developers," he wrote.

A spokeswoman for the council said Mr Tierney would not be commenting as he is on leave and has not seen the letter.

- Cormac Murphy

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http://www.herald.ie/national-news/shockwaves-of-desmond-letter-start-council-row-1511444.html

He said that at the oral hearing it transpired Mr Dunne's architect "had brought models of a 32-storey tower, 37-storey tower and 40-storey tower to a meeting at Dublin City Council".

"Jim Barrett, city architect, suggested that the 37-storey was more 'elegant'," Mr Desmond said. He then "apparently made further suggestions concerning appropriate heights for other buildings which were ultimately reflected in the planning application".

Mr Desmond added: "While ultimately the planning authority refused permission for the 37-storey tower, it is clear that Jim Barrett was acting outside the development plan when even considering such tall buildings."