Machholz’s Blog

Thank You to All TD’s

Driving home this evening I started to wonder about how it must be to be constantly bombarded with e-mails from critics like me almost every day!

I mean every day there seems to be something to give out about and in politics there is always something to blame the politicians about.

I have to acknowledge that every one of the TD’s in Dail Eireann must have gotten into the Dail to make their mark and make changes for the better

To test this idea out all I have to do is look at my own postings and I am surprised to see most of them are criticising someone or other, and most of them are in the Dail!

Very often all the TD’s get a lash even when most of them had really nothing to do with the criticised events or decisions ,in fact quite a lot would have opposed the events in the first place

With the George Lee saga in full swing I want to take full advantage of this event to now say

“Thank you to All the TD’s for their hard work they have done over the last year”   

Even if I don’t agree with all of the approved measures that so far have being introduced

In the Dail

I would like also to say to everybody that I bare no personal animosity to any individual

This note is something I thought I would do at the start of a new year before we commence battle again and wish you all a great year ahead!

AIB yesterday admitted overcharging 40,000 customers in the latest of a long list of blunders by the country’s biggest bank.

And it says it will be another 14 months before all the customers will finally be repaid the charges wrongly levied on them.

The bank charged business account rates to personal customers, with some of the overcharging going back 10 years.

It will now write to affected customers and repay €4m — an average of €100 to 40,000 people.

Yesterday, the new financial regulator, Matthew Elderfield, blasted the bank for taking so long to inform customers about the mistake, which was discovered in November 2008.

It took AIB 15 months to tell customers they had been overcharged and will take the bank until March next year to refund everyone because of the painstaking trawl of accounts that has still to be completed.

AIB said it had appointed accountants KPMG, at the insistence of the regulator, to sort out the overcharging and promised to pay “compensatory interest” to those customers who lost out.

This is the latest in a raft of overcharging scandals to engulf Ireland’s biggest bank.

Other banks have also been in the firing line for overcharging. In November, Bank of Ireland was forced to own up to double charging up to 160,000 customers who used their Laser debit cards. It was the second month in a row it had double charged customers.

In December, credit card provider MBNA said almost 500,000 of its customers were due refunds of €18m in total, after an interest-charge blunder.

Consumers’ Association chairman James Doorley has called for a complete review of the charging systems of all finance firms. “We have had dozens of cases of overcharging. Are their systems so bad that they keep doing this?”

Bulsh**

A survey which measures how consumers feel about the economy rose to its strongest level in two years last month.

The consumer sentiment index, compiled by KBC Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute, rose to 64.6 from 53.3 in December.

This has to be a lode of bull

Who are these people that are being asks these questions, and who are the questionnaires

Ask anybody, in the bars, hotels, on the streets, estate agents that I personally know, all of them and I mean all have the same thing to say

“Things are getting worse, not better”

Now ask yourself the question who’s interest is it in to have better economic news

Why the current corrupt government

Don’t believe the spin!

Former RTÉ economics editor George Lee has announced that he has resigned from the Dáíl and from the Fine Gael party.

After joining the party last year, Mr Lee was elected to the Dáil in a by-election in Dublin South.

In a statement, Mr Lee said his resignation had been ‘a very difficult decision’, which he had taken after a great deal of reflection on his position.

This has to be a big blow for Fine Gael and I also believe it demonstrates that the leadership of that party has not grasped the seriousness of the situation the country finds itself in

The Fine Gael party is not showing enough evidence that it has a viable alternative to offer the people of |Ireland.

It would seem to people looking in, that it’s just waiting to take on power as a right after the current incumbents are kicked out

We need to see a much more active Fine Gael in action inside and outside the Dail

More radical proposals as well as new innovations, a complete brake from the past and a more inclusive type of politic would be a start

Personally I believe we need a completely new type of political process and not just a change of personal in the Dail

The entire system must be overhauled; perhaps Mr. Lee will now be able to tell the people what exactly he has learned in the nine months he was in there!

In fact I would call upon Mr. Lee to consider setting up a completely new political party

I even have a name he should consider” The Reform party “

What about it George?  

The Irish Independent reports that the Green Party began offering its members the chance to serve on state boards just months after entering Government — despite previous promises to eliminate “crass cronyism” and “jobs for the boys”.

The Irish Independent has seen a copy of a confidential email sent from the Green Party’s head office after the party entered coalition with Fianna Fail in 2007.

It stated that the party’s “medium- to long-term” objective was to reform the State’s public appointments system.

“In the meantime, we are putting procedures in place to help us to nominate suitable persons as positions arise. We would be delighted to receive suggestions of persons who might be suitable for consideration,”it said.

Increase

The opposition has highlighted the increase in the number of Green Party members on state boards, which now stands at seven. The most recent addition is former Green Seanad candidate Martin Hogan, who was appointed to the board of Fas last month and will receive around €12,000 in annual fees.

Green Party member Caroline Burrell, who lost her council seat in last year’s local elections, was recently appointed to the board of the National Disability Authority.

Green Party Junior Agriculture Minister Trevor Sargent set up a new state quango last year, the Foras Organach — Organic Food Agency — and appointed his own special adviser, and former Green Party general secretary, Stiofan Nutty, to it.

The Green Party headquarters email, dated December 13, 2007, said the people nominated “may or may not be politically affiliated” to the Green Party but had to be of the“highest character and integrity”.

The confidential email mentioned the formation of a new party group to nominate Green Party members and non-party members to state boards.

Green Party senator Dan Boyle confirmed his party had set up such a group — made up of a parliamentary party member, a national council member, a party worker and an outside management expert.

Green Party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley last year appointed two former Green Party councillors, Vincent P Martin and Gene Feighery, to the Private Residential Tenancies Board, where they can receive up to €25,000 a year.

Mr Gormley also appointed Green Party Louth county councillor Mark Dearey as chairman of An Chomhairle Leabharlanna — the Library Council — although this position is worth just €5,000 a year.

Elizabeth Davidson, who ran for the party in last year’s Dublin South by-election, was appointed to the Irish Film Classification Office in 2008.

Mr Boyle published a private members’ bill when in opposition in 2007 to give an Oireachtas committee the power to vet state board appointments. He promised it would put an end to “crass cronyism” and “jobs for the boys”. But when it was reintroduced in the Seanad last October by the opposition, Mr Boyle and his Green Party colleague Senator Deirdre de Burca voted against it — and it was defeated by 25 votes to 23.

Fine Gael enterprise spokes-man Leo Varadkar said the Green Party had engaged in the most appalling acts of cronyism “which would bring shame to the sleaziest member of Fianna Fail”.

Ref. Formal submissions by TCD students on electoral reform

All for the proposals are coming in as I would have expected for privileged students, who don’t seem to realize that they are living in a dream world created no doubt by the elitist surroundings at Trinity

The inevitable suggestions coming from the floor is just typical and predictable

A few changes, to the existing system or variations of some foreign system and then they must mention the woman’s card (not enough woman represented etc)

The sad fact is the majority of people in Ireland view this body as nothing more than a talking shop for eccentric carrachters who evidently like to lecture the rest of us and get paid enormous amounts of money.

As far as I can see the Oireachtas is full of self interest individuals, waiting to make a breakthrough into the Dail or some are quite happy to just waffle on in the chamber biding their time and collecting their ill-gotten pay check, and enjoy the trappings of been a “senator” (an Irish Lord)

This of course is view as the Irish “house of Lords” and is just as corrupt!

This house should be abolished as it is the view, of the vast majority of the disenfranchised public an attempt of the ruling elite to maintain a class structure within the republic.

This is of course contravenes the constitutions stated guarantee to treat all citizens equally

Unless there is to be submissions from all the citizens of Ireland, the vast majority of the people of Ireland view this process as a waste of time

Cowen’s call for sacrifices

Madam, – I could barely contain myself upon reading the report of Brian Cowen’s speech to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce (Home News, February 6th). He called for people to look beyond our self-interest so as not to fail the next generation. This Fianna Fáil Government has already failed the next generation with its health and education cutbacks.

There was no looking beyond self-interest when the Government and its cronies were off at football matches, concerts, top-notch hotel trips abroad or driving their luxury top-spec cars, all paid for by the mortgage-bound, salary-slashed and stealth-taxed middle- income PAYE worker.

Had Mr Cowen followed his own advice, there is a good chance we would be in a much better place than we are.

The men and women of 1916 did not give us the chance to be the country that we are, as he believes: they gave us the chance to be better than this.

Unfortunately, narrow government self-interest has sullied that sacrifice and Mr Cowen’s invocation of it is an insult to their memory. If the electorate has any sense, it will ensure this Government is not around in 2016. – Yours, etc,

PETER LYDON,

comment taken from www.irishtimes.com

Cumulative Probability of Default (CPD)

Quantifies the probability of a country being unable to honour its debt obligations over a given time period. Unless otherwise stated, all stated values are for the 5 year CPD. CPD is calculated using an industry standard model fed with proprietary credit data from CMA Data Vision.

Global Sovereign Credit Risk Report

Fourth Quarter 2009

CDS for Spain and Italy have behaved similarly this quarter, as have the CDS for Poland and Austria

Greece has been the worst performer in Europe this quarter as it struggles to get its budget deficit under control. The Greek CDS also showed the worst performance globally over Q3.

Ireland’s efforts to reign in the budget appear to bear fruit. Ireland’s CDS level has stabilised relative to other countries in Western Europe.

Germany has been the best performer in the region this quarter, tighter by 5.5%

Source www.cmavision.com

These numbers speak for themselves!

Things are getting worse with the banks and I believe that the government cannot do any worse in managing the nation’s banks than their current management.

So as far as the ordinary punter in the street is concerned the government should nationalize the banks and be done with it!

To all TD’s

Dear Sir or Madam

I received this e-mail today, having read it I would ask you to read it too.

Realizing the obvious conflict of Interest that is there for all to see, I now ask you to bring this to the public’s attention and ask the questions that need to be asked and hopefully a more suitable firm

Will be appointed,

I fear this is just the first step of jobs for Friends and people within the golden circle. (So it would appear to the ordinary man in the street)

LIMERICK solicitors Dermot G O’Donovan, three of whose partners are directors of the Fordmount Group, now in receivership, have been appointed by NAMA to provide legal services.

Fordmount is believed to owe in excess of €100m to Anglo Irish Bank.

One of the partners, Adrian Frawley, was appointed managing director of Fordmount following the departure of accountant Michael Daly, who is said to be the majority shareholder of the Fordmount Group.

Other shareholders in the Fordmount Group include the firm’s other partners Dermot G. O’Donovan, Michael Sherry and ex-partner Tommy Dalton, who has left the firm.

Speaking to this newspaper a local source claimed, “Michael Daly is the majority shareholder with a 50% holding and the four others hold 12.5% each”.

Fordmount Property Group have constructed €300 million worth of property in Limerick including the landmark Riverpoint Development, The Savoy Hotel and The Park Nursing Home in Castletroy.

Anglo Irish Bank who financed Fordmount’s projects, are believed to be their largest creditor.

The bank installed Billy O’Riordan of PriceWaterHouseCoopers as receiver to the Fordmount Group following analysis of their holdings by forensic accountants Cooney Carey. Speaking to the Limerick Post, the receiver said that he was unsure whether any of the group assets would be considered for NAMA.

He said: “I am in contact with the directors who have put together a statement of affairs with which we can carry out a financial analysis of the group”.

In 2005 Fordmount Property Group gave a political donation of €1,750 to Minister Willie O’Dea.

Another local firm of solicitors who have been appointed for the provision of legal services in connection with the acquisition of bank assets is Holmes O’Malley Sexton.

Minister of State Peter Power was once junior partner with Holmes O’Malley Sexton, and they also represent former Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue.

The other Limerick partnership appointed to provide legal services for NAMA are Sweeney McGann Solicitors, O’Connell Street.