Gavinsblog.com

Category: FOIs

  • Department expense database

    [Crossposted to thestory.ie] Readers may recall a blog post I wrote back in December detailing my dealings with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism (DAST). After gleaning information from the footers of Ken Foxe’s FOIs concerning John O’Donoghue, I established that the Department was using Oracle iExpense software to store expenses information. I wrote…

  • TD/Senator expenses 2005 – 2008

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] For the record and as part of an ongoing FOI request, here are all expenses and salaries of all TDs and Senators, 2005 – 2008. I received them today via email from the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. We hope to digitise this data shortly. I also received the following note:…

  • John O'Donoghue resigns

    It took months of work by Ken Foxe at the Sunday Tribune. His efforts deserve every applause. For my own part, I started posting Ken’s FOI work online on August 18. I hope this helped in some way to get Ken’s work more exposure, and help force this resignation. For even half of the trips…

  • Those NTMA pay scales

    Last week I blogged a response I had received from the Department of Finance concerning Government consultations over the establishment of NAMA. The response was prompted by an FOI request, seeking the titles, dates and authors of consultation reports for the Government (seeking the documents themselves would have been refused outright). What it brought to…

  • Mary Hanafin's trip to India

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] In 2006 the Government went on a trade mission to India. Mary Hanafin as Minister for Education went along. I put in the following FOI request: 1) The Minister’s schedule and appointments between January 1, 2006 and March 1, 2006. 2) A breakdown of flight costs, accommodation costs, hospitality costs, and…

  • Reports prepared for NAMA

    Some time ago I sought the following information from the Department of Finance: 1) The titles, dates and authors of all cost-benefit analyses, impact reports or preparatory reports that have been carried out by the Department in relation to NAMA 2) The titles, dates and authors of all cost-benefit analyses, impact reports or preparatory reports…

  • Some questions for Mr Lenihan

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] The Daily Mail and Sunday Times have commented already on Lenihan’s diary as published here last week. The Daily Mail concentrated on the meeting with Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone on November 12, 2008. The Sunday Times was more concerned with all the constituency work Mr Lenihan was doing when he perhaps…

  • Mary Coughlan's talking points

    [cross posted to thestory.ie) Last month I sent the following Freedom of Information request: FOI Unit Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, August 13, 2009 Request for access to records under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 Dear Sir/Madam, In accordance with Section 7 of the above mentioned act,…

  • Finance briefing documents

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] As part of my FOI request seeking the diary of Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, I also sought briefing documents used by himself and the Department’s Secretary General David Doyle. My request asked for: 1. The diary of the Minister for Finance (dates given) 2. Briefing notes prepared for the Minister for…

  • Morris Tribunal website FOI

    [cross posted to thestory.ie] I have blogged previously about my request for information concerning the Morris Tribunal website, and its disappearance earlier this year. I noticed that since my FOI was submitted, the Morris Tribunal website had reappeared. It seems this was as a result of my request. To recap: I submitted the following request…