This is the Climate Change Election

Cuffe for Dublin European Election Campaign Launch, Dublin Woollen Mills, 15th April 2019

Friends, colleagues, welcome to the Dublin Woollen Mills. Welcome to the North Inner City, the electoral ward that is home to three European Parliament candidates for the Dublin constituency. There’s clearly something in the air! Welcome to Bas Eickhout, my European Green colleague from the Netherlands. It is an honour to have him here as a co-author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. Bas has represented the European Parliament at UN climate change conferences, and has had the ear of Al Gore. He knows his stuff, thanks Bas.

CLIMATE CHANGE

This is the Climate Change election. We’ve been saying this for a while, but this time it’s getting traction. The language we use has changed. ‘Global warming’ doesn’t capture the nature of the crisis. ‘Climate Change’ suggests that it’s not just about warming. ‘Climate Justice’ reminds us that those who didn’t cause the problem shouldn’t have to pay the price. ‘Climate Breakdown’ suggest that it may be too late, and that we must act immediately.

Last Saturday would have been the eightieth birthday of the late Seamus Heaney. In his poem ‘Höfn’ he described the impact of climate change. “The glaciers have begun to melt. What will we do when the ice makes its move?” That’s a question that must be asked of anyone seeking public office in 2019. What will you do? Will you spend more money on new motorways or will you invest in public transport? Will you invest in low-energy homes and tackle fuel poverty, or will you leave it to the market to provide? Will you take decisive action to tackle rising emissions, or will you propose that we put up more bird-boxes? I’ve served as Minister of State for climate change and I know what needs to be done to tackle these issues.

Acting on climate cannot be done in isolation. It requires joined up thinking at local, and national level, and on the international stage. Here in Dublin as a city councillor I chaired a climate change committee that has produced a Climate Plan for Dublin. That Plan won’t be delivered unless the Government acts. We’ve also learned that the Irish Government won’t act unless it is under pressure from Europe. It has been like that since we joined the European Economic Community back in 1973. The Union is not perfect, but the extraordinary social and environmental progress that we’ve seen over the last 46 years here in Ireland would simply not have happened without our membership. Show me any other part of the world where there’s 28 democracies side-by-side. It is important that we renew the promise of Europe. Today’s big issues don’t recognise national boundaries, and collective action is needed at a regional levl. As we’ve learned from the Brexit debate, we need Europe to protect smaller countries, and resist the rise of far-right nationalism and populism.

LOOKING TO EUROPE

This is the Climate Action election. It’s an election where we can look to Europe for solutions from cities that work. As an MEP I’ll act as a bridge to show Dublin what works in other places and what can help us with a just transition here. All over the continent cities are finding solutions to tackle emissions that improve quality of life. I want Dublin to be known for its walkability, bikeability and liveability. Let’s look to Germany for child-friendly cities; let’s look to Austria for quality housing; let’s look to the Netherlands for sustainable transport and travel. All over Europe there are solutions that can work here.

ENERGY

The European Parliament can do more on energy. As Dublin’s MEP I want to legislate for a Just Transition. It’s not going to be easy. In the energy sector we’re going to need a European supergrid to get electricity to where it’s needed. We’re going to need community micro-grids that will allow communities to produce and sell energy at a local level. We’re going to need regulations that reinforces our national energy systems, and allows households to sell their surplus energy into the network. This needs to happen, and with more Green MEPs we can make this a reality.

TRANSPORT

Don’t kid yourself that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have climate change sorted. They haven’t show the will to do this. A lack of joined-up thinking will cost us dearly unless we act now. You can’t keep building motorways and expect emissions to fall. You can’t price people out of housing in Dublin and leave them with a three-hour daily commute. And don’t kid yourself that electric self-driving cars will set us free. The European Commission, the European Parliament need to know that Trans-European Networks and technologies are not the only answer. We need to invest in walking, cycling and public transport. Sure, we need some big projects, but we need small local changes too. That’s why I proposed that we add one second to pedestrian crossing times in Dublin and I’m glad to say that this is happening. It may not change the world, but it might mean your parents will take a trip to town, knowing that it is a bit easier to get across the road in the time available.

We need new transport infrastructure in Dublin, but we also need the simple stuff. Why is it that we’ve less buses on our streets than we did ten years ago? It’s not good enough to tell people to take the bus or train if they’re going to be squished in like sardines. It’s also not good enough to tell people to take the bus when driving is cheaper and faster. I’m pleased that we offer free travel to those over 65 but let’s start as we intend to finish, let’s make public transport free for children as well as pensioners. Start as you intend to finish. So let’s get the right travel patterns in place at an early age. If other countries in the European Union can’t do this why can’t we? Let’s get Europe to approve a transport package that spends more on active travel than it does on motorways. That means in Dublin taking cars out of Dame Street, Capel Street and George’s Street and creating a living city with cleaner air and more space for people.

HOUSING

This is the Just Transition election, and the European Parliament can do more on housing. Sure, it isn’t currently a European competence, but it should be. Globalisation has priced far too many out of the housing market here in Dublin. There’s too much 1% money sloshing round the globe and disrupting markets wherever it lands. It is clean money, it is dirty money, but it is disrupting and distorting our housing supply. Combined with Fine Gael’s belief that the market will solve this it means that we have 17,000 applicants on our housing waiting list in Dublin City alone, and thousands of families living in hostels, hotels and homeless hubs. We had 1,400 hostel beds ten years ago, we have 1,000 more today, and we still have dozens of homeless people who can’t find a bed. If Eoghan Murphy thinks he’d doing the right thing I’m happy to bring up to the Phoenix Park and show him people living in tents. I’ll bring him to Jervis Street, to the Croppies’ Acre. In my thirty years of living in Dublin’s inner city I have never seen a homelessness crisis of this magnitude.

Europe must help with our Housing Crisis. DG Regio has taken a strong interest in urban and regional affairs in recent years and I’ve carefully watched where this is heading. An EU urban agenda can deliver sustainable cities and a low-carbon trajectory, but to do this we need the numbers in the Parliament to put pressurise on the Commission and Council. We need a Housing package from Europe that will help us build A-rated new homes and retrofit the homes we have to modern standards.

I’m glad that the Irish Government has finally followed the lead of cities in Spain and elsewhere and is drawing down funds from the European Investment Bank for housing, but it’s not happening at the scale required. Let’s look to Vienna where the City of Vienna hosted the “Housing for All” conference last December. Cost-Rental housing is the future, and despite the internal rows in Fine Gael between Senior and Junior Ministers we must make it happen in Dublin.

I’m glad that Dublin City Council has brought the Vienna Model to Dublin, literally in this case with an exhibition that has been to the Docklands and Ballymun and that will be in Richmond Barracks in Inchicore all this week. Quality public housing is needed with people on all incomes living under the same roof. It is time to end the housing policies of exclusion, and look instead to Europe and to Vienna for inspiration from a city that owns 220,000 homes, and where successful housing associations are supported to tackle the crisis. In Berlin the city sold off much of its housing and thousands are now protesting the growing financialisation of the private rental sector.

A Just Transition will provide the funding for Dublin City Council to take the 24,000 homes that we provide, and bring them from a D to an A energy rating so that our tenants aren’t trapped in fuel poverty. A Just Transition would provide quality homes for all, not just for short-stay tourists in AirBnBs and hotels, or the affluent in new student housing. A Just Transition would mandate the Land Development Agency to build on brownfield sites like Broadstone, and provide most of these homes as mixed-income public housing, rather than investment targets for vulture or cuckoo funds. 40% affordable is far too low a bar for these sites.

WIDER WORLD

The Irish Naval Service has carried out extraordinary work in humanitarian rescues in the Mediterranean. But this migration crisis is part of a wider global trend, and we cannot retreat from commitments to the Global South. Irish Aid must continue to align our commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals. We must gender-proof our aid to ensure that women and girls are protected. Let’s look to the pioneering work of Mary Robinson in seeking climate justice for the least-well-off who will suffer most in a world of climate breakdown.

Let’s ensure that those who come to Ireland seeking refugee status aren’t left living in the shameful direct provision system. Cases should not drag on for years and if that means simplifying and strengthening EU or Irish Law then let’s deliver on this. Let’s ensure we accept our fair share of those fleeing persecution, and ensure that integration is at the heart of our policies.

Let’s also ensure that the EU’s foreign policy is geared towards sustainable development, rather than a European Army. Let’s ensure our defence forces have the equipment they need to deliver on humanitarian aid and peacekeeping. Let’s ensure they’re not paid low wages compared to other sectors of the economy. However, let’s not be sucked into defence spending under pressure from other member States that destroys our commitments to Irish Neutrality.

Let’s ensure that our close links to the UK continue regardless of the outcomes on Brexit. Those economic ties and cultural ties are crucial to our future. Now is the time to ensure that student exchanges such as Erasmus are kept in place to provide opportunities to study in the UK and for those across the water to study here. We need these commitments because they are part of the spirit of Europe regardless of the decisions made in Westminster.

DIGITAL FUTURES

Our digital world, just like climate change, does not recognise national borders. As our digital world expands we need to ensure that large companies do not have undue influence, I stand with Senator Elizabeth Warren from the United States when she says that monopolies should be broken up. It is wrong that three companies: Facebook, Amazon and Amazon dominate so much of the digital landscape. They have become virtual monopolies in their sector. We know that WeChat controls communications in China, we cannot let this happen in Europe.

The digital economy had given many benefits, but we need greater transparency on costs and profits, and a more level playing field for the major global companies in today’s global world. The rules of the game must reflect the subsidies and tax breaks given to companies elsewhere in Europe, and Ireland’s position as a peripheral Member State.

I stand with the European Greens when they campaign for Net neutrality, and protect whistle-blowers when they reveal the actions of Government and companies that needs exposure. I stand with Commissioner Margrethe Vestager when she pursues Google/Alphabet and others over the alleged antitrust violations.

CITIES

Cities can move quickly on climate change. I’ve spent the last eighteen months studying for a Masters in Cities at the London School of Economics, and I know that cities can unlock a low-carbon future. My final project looked at ‘Decarbonising Dublin’ and I’m convinced that the solutions to tackling climate change can be found here. They can be found in policies that promote walking and cycling, from Brussels to the Liffey Quays.  They can be found in District Heating using the heat from the Ringsend Incinerator and electricity generation. They can be found in policies that promote biodiversity, and in green and blue technologies that cope with extreme weather, and provide space for children to play. They can be found in improving air quality through low emission zones and reducing the incidence of asthma.

However, cities must also foster democracy. The gradual stripping away of powers from local government in Ireland leaves us as an outlier compared to other European Countries. We need to give our cities greater control over transport, over waste and over housing. Our lack of powers and the constraints on spending have left us incapable of responding quickly to climate change, the housing crisis, traffic congestion and other key issues. It is time for a directly elected mayor for Dublin with a remit to tackle these challenges and provide the vision for Dublin’s future.

It is wrong that our plans for public housing to require sign-off four times by Eoghan Murphy before we get the green light to build. It is wrong that Minister Shane Ross has dictated that there are less buses on our streets than ten years ago. It is wrong that there are over fifty different agencies with responsibility for transport in Greater Dublin. Dublin needs a directly-elected Mayor.

FINAL

The extraordinary young leader Greta Thunberg has shown us that speaking truth to power works. She’s speaking to the Environment Committee of the European Parliament tomorrow despite the efforts of the EPP and others to deny her a voice in the main chamber. She inspired the ten thousand school children here in Ireland who gathered outside Dáil Éireann to demand climate justice and a fair transition, and they won’t be going away. In his poem ‘Lies’ the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote: “Lying to the young is wrong...Telling them that God’s in his heaven and all’s well with the world is wrong...Our pupils will not forgive in us what we forgave.”

Greta Thunberg has shown that the young are not complacent. She has shown us that the young can separate truth from spin. She wants us to act, and we must act now.

The Citizens Assembly has told us that it wants us to act. However, it is about more than bird boxes and keep cups. It’s about clean energy, and A-rated homes. It’s about buses, trains and trams that aren’t packed to the gills, but are reliable, comfortable and affordable ways to get around. It’s about a child-friendly city with clean air to breathe and clear waters in Dublin Bay.Let’s ramp up action under the Water Directive so that the Liffey, the Dodder and the Tolka and our canals, even in the Docklands are clean enough to swim in.  It’s about a green city with trees for kids to climb, and parks a short walk from your door.

I’ve campaigned to make Dublin a better place for some time, I’m proud of my city and the changes that we’ve achieved, I want to work with our neighbours in Europe to deliver the climate action, the housing, the mobility improvements that will deliver a Living City for all.

I’m asking you to Vote Dublin, Vote Climate, Vote Green, Vote Cuffe on the 24th May.

ENDS

How to tackle the Housing Crisis in Dublin

I know I shouldn’t really do this, but…

Talking  up high rise distracts from the substantive issue: low-rise high density development is key to delivering the housing we need in Dublin.

Besides, our Development Plan allows for tall buildings (50m+) in four  locations, and medium-rise (50m) in ten more. Have a look at Page 318 of the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022

Years ago Richard Rogers in the 'Towards and Urban Renaissance' Report showed that high rise often doesn’t achieve more than low-rise. That's why I feel Minister Murphy  should focus on financing affordable housing. 

He could also seek more European Investment Bank funding for this, as well as introduce a Site Value Tax to reduce price of land as advocated by the Green Party and the Irish Planning Institute. He could increase  the Vacant Site Levy from 3% to 10% or a more meaningful figure, and lower the 400 sq. m. threshold. It is crazy that these houses in Phibsboro don’t currently qualify for the levy as the sites they occupy are too small to qualify.  

Another source of funding would be Credit Unions. Currently their surpluses go to German Bond markets and elsewhere. They should be allowed invest in Ireland Inc.

How about using 20% of Semi-State Pension funds to provide housing? CIE for instance had  €1,332,000,000 in their pension pot in 2014, (see page 77), it seems crazy some of this is not used  for housing, perhaps for the sons and daughters of CIE workers.

Cost Rental : this is what the Green Party and the National economic and Social Council want to see happen to break down ghettoisation in housing policy. Let’s do this. It’s also time the Department  of Housing gave back powers to Councils. It currently takes years for us to build, as Central Government smothers local authorities with red tape every step of the way.

It’s time the Department of Housing gave back powers back to Local Authorities.  It currently takes years for us to build, and Central Government smothers councils with red tape every step of the way.We also need to take the cowboys and cowgirls out of the rental market and increase standards in the private rental sector.

There’s thousands of underused or empty homes in Dublin and elsewhere, so let’s simplify the Living City scheme and make sure it delivers. How about making available sites for small builders or groups of those who wish to house themselves in our towns and cities: look what the Dutch are doing. And there’s lots of prefabricated home suppliers around Europe: here’s one developed by IKEA and Skanska 

Finally, let’s focus on quality, That’s what Herbert Simms as Dublin City architect did back in the 1930s, we should do the same, and architects and others are there to help.

Over to you Eoghan...

Too many students?

There's been a lot of Planning Applications for student housing in recent years, particularly in the north inner city. The map above shows some of those planning application that I've noted in the last year or so, and if you click on the link you can zoom in or out. I've counted planning applications for 6,000 bed spaces in the North Inner City alone, and that's just in the last three years. Local residents are apprehensive about the impact of such development, and we need to get it right.

Across the River Liffey in the Liberties, on Bonham Street almost 500 bed spaces have been provided in an impressive development designed by O'Mahony Pike Architects. It seems to fit in well, and provides a nice way to walk from Usher's Island up to James's Street through the Digital Hub past the remnants of the old St. Patrick's Windmill. The first residents moved in six months ago, and I  haven't heard any complaints so far about the impact, and it seems to me to be a good addition to the neighbourhood. Years ago I remember a packed-out meeting of residents when Trinity Hall was being proposed in Dartry. Listening to the nearby residents it seemed like an Armageddon of drunkenness, relocated traffic cones and bus stop signs was about to descend on that fairly well-heeled neighbourhood. It seemed not to have occurred.

It is important that this type of accommodation is really well managed, and that the everyday issues such as waste bins and construction traffic are well taken care of. Some of these proposals are a bit over-scaled for their surroundings, and there are concerns about over-looking and over-shadowing. In addition there is a very real fear that an over-concentration of students in one area might make life difficult for existing residents. 

On the plus side they will take some of the pressure off existing housing, where rents and prices have sky-rocketed again in recent years. The real solution to a housing shortage is to build more housing! In addition, with a large construction phase of the new Dublin Institute of Technology campus at Grangegorman, these new developments will attract students to live near their campus which makes sense.

One of the interesting things has been that the developers aren't looking for vast amounts of car parking, and the planners haven't looked for it either. Some of them have no car parking whatsoever. This makes sense, as journeys in the inner city are more likely to be made by foot or bike or public transport. If we can't get students to travel using sustainable means, then what hope do we have in persuading others to do so? It will put pressure though on nearby areas that don't have a residential disc parking scheme in place, but that's inevitable as the city copes with a growing population.

I've made my own views known on several of these applications over the last few months, and you can see my observations on Prussia Street, the North Circular Road and Stoneybatter at these links. I've invited in our senior planning staff to make a presentation to Dublin City Council's Central Area Committee next month. We'll see what they have to say. One issue that's been on mind is as follows: We set lower space standards for students in our Development Plan (under pressure from the then Minister for Housing Alan Kelly). If the demand for student housing doesn't materialise, will we be easily able to convert these lower-specified units into regular housing for others?

Apollo House: time for a new space programme?

Rows about Apollo House aren't in anyone's best interests,  least of all those in chronic need of housing.


 I only wish though that more of the goodwill and endorsement channelled towards Home Sweet Home could be directed towards accepting higher taxes to pay for decent housing for those in need.The remarks of Dublin City Council's Chief Executive Owen Keegan in an interview in the Irish Independent didn't help however. He dismissed the occupation of Apollo House as a stunt, and this was bound to cause anger and resentment. I suspect his remarks were prompted by a certain frustration over the work that the Council does that isn't recognised. The provision of 70 bed spaces at Little Britain Street, another 70 on Benburb Street and on Francis Street, and 20 more in the Civil Defence building at Wolfe Tone Quay haven't been in the limelight, even though they amount to five times as many as are currently being provided by Home Sweet home at Apollo House.

What many people also fail to recognise is that most of the capital funding for housing comes from central government, and Dublin City Council doesn't have the powers to simply get out there and build, much as we would like to. Ultimately Minister Simon Coveney and his colleagues in cabinet make the call on how much is spent on housing. In recent years this has been informed by the Fiscal Space that we operate under, and this is determined by European Union rules and in a nutshell limits the amount of money that we can spend on housing. What we should be doing though is shifting the capital spending around significantly. It simply doesn't make sense for Government to be be spending €400 million on gold-plated road schemes when thousands of families are living in sub-standard temporary accommodation. We must spend more money on homes and less on roads, and this is what Coveney should be arguing for at Cabinet.

We've also got to recognise that Housing Associations are not the only game in town when it comes to housing for those on lower incomes.  Local Authorities should be funded to build decent quality housing schemes, just as they did in the 1930s, 1950s and 1970s. We also need to ensure that such housing isn't just reserved for people on the lowest 10% of incomes, we need to implement a Cost Rental model that encourages people on different incomes to lives in the same building and thus combat the segregation that bedevils housing policy in Ireland.

New forms of funding are also required. We should redouble our efforts to draw down European Investment Bank funding for housing. If we can do it for motorways, surely we can do it for homes. We must also follow the lead of other European countries and use some of our semi-state pension funds for housing. The irony of the CIE group having €1.5 Bn. in a pension fund that goes into the UK markets while the sons and daughters of Dublin Bus workers can't access housing is acute. Its also worth noting that over one hundred years ago the privately owned Midland Great Western Railway Company built the beautiful Great Western Square in Phibsborough for their key workers, this should also happen in the twenty-first century.

Vacancy rates need to be looked at in existing housing. In Dublin's North Inner City, the area that I represent as a councillor there were 67,309 residents in 2011. However there were also 5,095 vacant households. an astonishingly high number. Sure there will always be vacant homes, but reforms are required. Probate should be speeded up so that buildings aren't left empty for years. The Derelict Sites levy should be increased from 3% to 10% of the value per years, so that owners of vacant property refurbish them and let them out more quickly, (and that should include state owned buildings), and vacant sites should be built on or the owners forced to sell them on. The Living City Scheme should be simplified and extended so that older buildings become a good refurbishment opportunity. I look forward to someone answering the phone in Dublin City Council and saying "Living City Scheme, how can I help?" 

Self-build housing can also contribute to solving the housing crisis. In Amsterdam groups of prospective home owners are being sold sites by the City Council, and are pooling their resources to put a roof over their heads. This can and should be an objective of Dublin City Council.

As NAMA recoups a significant amount of the value from the loans that it manages, and as Ireland's economy improves we should consider legislative changes that would focus its mission statement more firmly on the housing crisis, and ensure that  key sites have a significant proportion of affordable housing linked into their development.

The Home Sweet Home initiative at Apollo House is working, as it is putting pressure on Simon Coveney, the Minister for Housing to deliver and prioritise housing. However we should recognise the work that is being engaged in by Dublin City Council to tackle homelessness as well as the constraints that they operate under.

The name Apollo House reminds me of America's Space Program, which was kick-started by JFK's speech in 1962 where he announced that "We choose to go to the Moon". The moon landing occurred less than  eight years after he gave that speech. In 2016 we need a space program in Ireland, but one that resolves to provide living space for all, and end homelessness before a decade is out.

Low standards in high places

In a true democracy local government officials wouldn't feel obliged to issue a press release when a senior planner speaks their mind. 

However that's what happened when Dublin City Council Senior Planner Kieran Rose said that Minister Kelly ‘has been bamboozled by certain powerful vested property interests.’  Rose was referring to Kelly's newly published Design Standards for New Apartments which roll back on improvements made under previous Governments.

The Council under Chief Executive Owen Keegan issued a press release saying that “The comments, while made in a personal capacity, are both inappropriate and regrettable and do not reflect the views and opinions of management of the City Council.” If that isn't a slap-down then what is?  Group think and the 'uno duce, una voce' approach is precisely what got Ireland into difficulty in the first place. We're in trouble if public servants aren't allowed speak their mind.   The etymology of bamboozle lies in the French word embabouiner "to make a fool (literally 'baboon') of, and there is certainly a Neanderthal feel to those who are arguing for lower standards. Let's not forget that some years ago the Construction Industry Federation argued against mandatory insulation in new homes, saying it would drive up the price of housing. These same vested interests clearly have the ear of their Minister.

If Labour's Kelly really wants to increase housing supply he should spend more time talking to the European Investment Bank to release funding for housing. He could also legislate to ensure that a portion of semi-state pension funds are invested in new homes. It seems crazy that when there's over a billion euro in CIE pension funds yet none of these monies are obliged to be invested in housing as they are in other jurisdictions. He must also sit down with Credit Unions, Trade Unions and other bodies to ensure that they too play their part in tackling the housing crisis. He could modify the much heralded 'Living City' scheme for older buildings that has been spectacularly unsuccessful. Finally (dare I mention it) he could allocate sufficient funds to local authorities so that they can build as much housing as they did in previous times when there were housing shortages.

It would be shameful if Labour's legacy in the Customs House were to be smaller apartments, lower ceilings, less storage space, and new homes with no access to sunlight, yet this is now set to happen under Alan Kelly's watch. Kelly has bought into the 'starter homes' and 'first time buyers' language that characterised Liam Carroll's Zoe shoe-box apartments back in the last century. Five years ago the Government that I was part of phased out bedsits. Now, thanks to Alan Kelly they are on the way back. Earlier this year when a u-turn on bedsits was first mooted ALONE – a housing and advocacy charity for the vulnerable stated that they campaigned “against this type of accommodation for over 30 years and we don’t want to go back. We would be concerned that it would be the most vulnerable who would be forced into this type of accommodation, often located in old buildings with sub-standard conditions.  ALONE believes the government needs to look at long term strategic solutions to providing quality housing instead of short term reactions to the current crisis.” It seems curious that the Labour Party isn’t doing more to provide quality state-built homes as they did when in Government previously.

The Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 introduces a vacant land levy to put pressure on land hoarders to build and make best use of their lands but its introduction had been long-fingered until 2018. If this provision was enacted sooner it might put pressure on land-owners to make better use of their sites to apply for planning permission and build the housing that is so badly needed. Further back-peddling is underway with the repeal of the new windfall/betterment tax of 80% on trading profits and capital gains arising from disposals of land that was built into the National Asset Management Act. This provision was a positive development to deter speculation and yet Fine Gael and Labour removed this provision in the 2014 Finance Act. This will encourage speculative rezoning and higher land and housing prices.

Minister Kelly hasn't provided for any public consultation prior to making these new standards. This means his changes may be in breach of the Aarhus Convention which states that Government shall endeavour to provide opportunities for public participation in the preparation of policies relating to the environment including housing. This one could run and run.

Masterminds at Anglo Irish bank

I must have missed it by minutes.

I had dropped the kids to school and peddled up to Stephen's Green to take a couple of picture of the front of Anglo Irish. Little did I know that the Guards were inside investigating suspected breaches of company law.

I guess you could describe it as some sort of reverse take-over when the the Guards rather than the robbers raid the bank.

The advertising in the window shows a Mastermind chair with the headline "Our chosen subject is savings". Given that the TV Quiz show's most well-known presenter was Iceland's own Magnús Magnússon I'm sure that there are some embarrassed faces in an ad agency somewhere. The small print on the Corporate logo reads "There is a difference." Damn right there is.

There's quite a few nuggets of information on Anglo's website including a Q and A on the Nationalisation process. Under the 'What triggered the nationalisation?" section (otherwise known as 'where did it all go wrong?') it states:

The funding position of Anglo ... progressively weakened over the past few weeks, and the ... unacceptable corporate governance practices that took place within Anglo ...caused serious reputational damage to the bank at a time when overall market sentiment towards it has been negative. The Government confirmed that the planned recapitalisation of Anglo announced on 21 December 2008 is not now the most appropriate and effective means to secure the bank's continued viability. Therefore, the Government decided to move to the final and decisive step of taking Anglo into public ownership.

Our Senator Dan Boyle was pretty outspoken in the Senate this afternoon. He feels that Fitzpatrick, Drumm and Bradshaw should be suspended until the investigations by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Financial Regulator have come to conclusion.

I had gone up to take a pic of Anglo to illustrate one of the few silver linings that might present itself to the side of the current dark cloud: Presumably much of Anglo's debt is tied to defaulting developers who have over-stretched themselves on land acquisition. If this is carefully handled it could allow the state to acquire significant land holdings that could be used to meet social housing and affordable housing demand for years to come.

Meanwhile, the lobbyists prowl the corridors of Leinster House. Tom Cullen from the SIMI seems to have spent the last two weeks drinking coffee with Fianna Fail back-benchers. He even claims that the Department of Finance now believe that a car scrappage scheme stacks up to create jobs. I'm not convinced. Our car fleet is young compared to the rest of Europe, and around half the carbon cost of a car is in its manufacture. I'm waiting for Tom to give me the figures.

The new president of the Construction Industry Federation Andy O'Gorman graces the cover of their official magazine of the Construction Industry Federation. He is straight up about his message: "We need effective lobbying to secure a commitment to continue the roads programme" he states. But what about the Metro, Andy? That could create 4,000 construction jobs.

My rant of the day is reserved for David Baddeley from Volvo Ireland. In his article in the Irish Times Motors supplement he believes that "Buying a car might actually put some people in a better financial position". This follows on from a paragraph where he states that buying payment protection insurance can address any concerns about possible redundancy. Have we learnt nothing from the boom? These type of advertorials in the motoring supplements mirror the excesses of the property supplements from the boom years that included ads for housing in Gorey Co. Wexford describing their developments as being within easy rail commuting distance of Dublin even when the first train didn't arrive in to Dublin till half ten.

My advice? Spend your money wisely. I'm banking on insulation. With the new grants coming on stream you can have a warmer home and reduce your fuel bills. There's also thousands of jobs, and a lot less carbon as the scheme is rolled out. My overview of the grants scheme is here.

Good luck with your spending!