Right To Know Ireland

The head of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) sought an urgent meeting with justice officials after warning overcrowded jails could not cope with large groups of immigration detainees being held before charter deportation flights.

Internal records show the warning was issued after more than a dozen South African women were held at the Dóchas Centre for over a fortnight at a time the jail was already operating at 151 percent capacity.

At the same time, the IPS had to accommodate an extra 19 deportees in Dublin’s Cloverhill Prison, where 34 other inmates were already sleeping on mattresses on the floor.

The correspondence was sent in February, with the Director General of the IPS, Caron McCaffrey, saying the system simply did “not have the ability to cope.”

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/06/12/irish-prison-service-said-it-could-not-cope-with-large-groups-of-deportees-being-held-in-overcrowded-jails-before-charter-removal-flights/

The inside of Ireland’s new €53 million government jet has been fitted out with cream coloured executive-style seating, polished wood panelling, cabin tables, and sofa-style seating.

New pictures show the interior of the Falcon 6X aircraft as it neared completion at a Dassault Aviation facility in the United States last year.

The images show a high-end cabin including a galley area, individual passenger seats, fold-out tables, a divan-style sofa, and private bathroom facilities.

A status report from Dassault Aviation said the interior installation was around 90 percent complete by mid-September.

It said the final upholstery of the seats had been completed and that the seats had been fitted in the aircraft.

The work took place at Dassault FalconJet in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to records released under FOI.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/06/10/inside-irelands-new-e53-million-government-jet-pictures-show-cabin-fit-out-with-polished-panelling-galley-and-sofa-style-seating/

A senior HSE official warned ambulance handover delays at emergency departments were a “significant patient safety risk” with systemic problems at several hospital sites.

Internal records detail how HSE deputy chief executive Damien McCallion said an ambulance stuck at an emergency department meant another patient waiting for help was at risk.

The documents also show plans for a Hospital Ambulance Liaison Supervisor service – designed to reduce handover delays – had repeatedly failed to receive permanent funding or staffing despite requests over four winters.

It said where it had been introduced on an ad hoc basis, significant improvements in getting ambulances back on the road were evident.

A briefing note said: “Out of the 34 hospitals listed, 19 hospitals showed an average improvement of 7%. The best was a 20% improvement in Cork University Hospital.”

However, repeated efforts to fully fund and resource a handover service failed, according to records released under FOI.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/06/05/senior-hse-official-warned-ambulance-handover-delays-were-a-significant-patient-safety-risk-as-liaison-service-went-unfunded-for-four-winters/

One of our co-directors, Ken Foxe, has just published Shining a Light, a practical guide to using FOI and other information access tools.

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own requests, it’s a good place to learn how.

The book is aimed at citizens, campaigners, journalists, community groups and anyone else trying to extract information from public bodies in Ireland.

Print and digital editions are available here: www.kenfoxe.com

The fleet of cars used to ferry government ministers and officeholders around the country cost taxpayers more than €8 million over the past year.

Some of the newest vehicles in the fleet are gas-guzzling diesels, including an Audi A6 50 TDI Quattro registered this year and three Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI models from 2025.

Two fully electric cars – both Hyundai Ioniqs – have run up comparatively low mileage compared to other vehicles which have clocked up in excess of 300,000 kilometres.

An Garda Síochána said two new vehicles were added to the fleet in the past year with one disposed of during the same period.

However, they refused to provide details of purchase or scrappage costs, saying the information was commercially sensitive.

The overall cost of providing the ministerial car service was €8.4 million, mostly related to the cost of drivers for the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers, and other officeholders.

An Garda Síochána declined to say exactly how many officers were allocated to the ministerial pool but said their salaries totalled €7.67 million.

They said information on gardaí who formed part of the Special Detective Unit (SDU) or the Security and Intelligence Section was protected under Freedom of Information laws.

A further €311,000 was spent on fuel while costs for maintaining the fleet – with some vehicles more than a decade old – came to around €436,000.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/06/03/annual-bill-of-more-than-e8-million-for-providing-garda-drivers-and-ministerial-vehicles-for-cabinet-members-and-other-officeholders/

A county council spent more than €680,000 pursuing a long-running planning enforcement case over a five-bed luxury home built without permission in its area.

Meath County Council incurred €642,696 in legal fees alone in relation to the unauthorised development saga at Bohermeen.

Costs surged this year with €408,702 in costs recorded as the council took possession of the property and demolition works were carried out.

A table of costs released under FOI reveals how bills began to mount for the county council as far back as 2007 when enforcement action first started.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/05/29/meath-county-councils-e680000-bill-from-controversial-luxury-house-demolition-case/

A city council said bin-raiding by people looking for bottles and cans had cost it half a million euro last year, leaving already-collected rubbish strewn around the streets.

A briefing document said the Deposit Return Scheme, operated by Re-turn, forced staff to clean up waste from city streets twice over.

Its waste management section estimated that three hours in every 24-hour cleaning cycle were being diverted to deal with “bin interference.”

The document said the council had placed bin surrounds on receptacles to try and encourage people to deposit cans and bottles there.

However, these had little impact and were instead being used for general litter disposal including coffee cups, drink cartons, and ci******es.

A breakdown of costs said Dublin City Council had spent more than €115,000 replacing locks on ‘Big Belly’ bins at a cost of €995 per receptacle.

The council had placed surrounds on a total of 110 bins at a cost of around €40,000 even though this ultimately proved of limited use.

It said there were ongoing daily costs from the Re-turn scheme with staff forced to remove torn bags, collect scattered waste, and return to areas already cleaned.

The briefing document said: “The estimated cost of this diverted staff and fleet time is approximately €351,000 per annum.”

The briefing – prepared earlier this year – said costs for Dublin City Council were already in the order of €857,000.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/05/27/council-briefing-said-re-turn-bottles-and-cans-had-become-a-monetary-commodity-leading-to-bin-scavenging-and-a-e500000-clean-up-bill/

The Department of Agriculture was worried about “panic buying” of fertiliser by Irish farmers with the country badly exposed to the fallout from the Middle East conflict.

A series of briefings said Morocco, Ireland’s main supplier of phosphate, relied heavily on goods coming through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

It said that while there was production in Europe, countries like Spain and France would be looking after their own domestic markets first.

A briefing note from March said: “Ireland, as an import-dependent island, is structurally vulnerable.”

It explained how more than a third of Ireland’s annual fertiliser requirement was yet to be secured as extreme uncertainty grew over availability and price.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/05/22/internal-briefings-warned-of-risk-of-panic-buying-by-farmers-as-ireland-faced-fertiliser-supply-uncertainty-amid-conflict-in-middle-east/

A business case for the State’s €148 million purchase of the Citywest complex described the site as a peaceful “exemplary model” of asylum accommodation just months before a riot took place outside.

The ‘Project Echo’ document – prepared by consultants KPMG – said the centre in Dublin had “notably” avoided the protests and unrest that were seen at other IPAS centres.

The report said: “This peaceful environment contrasts sharply with the widespread protests and incidents of arson reported at other locations.”

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/05/20/citywest-business-case-praised-site-as-peaceful-exemplary-model-and-highlighted-expansion-potential-before-violent-protests/

The State’s ability to deliver billions of euros worth of transport infrastructure is being compromised by acute skills shortages, ageing workers, and a building sector dominated by small firms.

A board paper said productivity was still well below Celtic Tiger peaks and that there was poor uptake of modern methods of construction.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) document said delivery of Ireland’s complex transport projects – with more than €24 billion in planned investment over the next five years – was a “significant risk.”

It said: “Without targeted and timely interventions, Ireland’s ability to deliver on its infrastructure ambitions will be constrained by acute skills shortages, capacity bottlenecks, and rising costs.”

The paper said construction productivity was still “20 percent below pre-crash levels” and one-third lower than international benchmarks.

It said a “boom-bust dynamic” discouraged companies from investing in skills and technology while complex planning processes drove inefficiency.

https://www.thestory.ie/2026/05/15/national-transport-authority-papers-warn-skills-shortages-and-ageing-workforce-could-put-e24bn-transport-infrastructure-plan-at-risk/