FF/FG/Green Government - Part 3

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552736#Comment_119552736

I actually find this changing registration status thing here puzzling. Doesn't the RTB system remind those registered to re-register? Revenue notify all the time and the CRO as well plus we've all had subscription email reminders coming out our ears, some we still forget to renew anyway.

shirrup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552776#Comment_119552776

Relevance?

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553177#Comment_119553177

You dont think if someone has debts related to property they own is not relevant?

Have you ever owned a property or been a landlord?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552901#Comment_119552901

The RTB changed their system accepting to some folks on twitter & AAM.

Old regs said you reg'd every 4 years. Now you need to register every year (plus pay fee 😆).

Also RTB changed their database, deleting or corrupting (I'm not sure of the detail) the old data within it forcing every LL to reregister.

God knows... the rules seem to be changed regularly.

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552901#Comment_119552901

Speaking from experience here, the RTB system is fucked

A relation of mine has a few properties and has had long-term tenants in there for ages. Rents are under the market. because the tenants are good and he wants an easier life as he is retired.

Anyway, he had everything by the book, then the RTB sent him a letter stating that they 'found' a number of properties where he 'failed' to register a tenancy, even though he has letters from the RTB confirming said tenancies from the previous years. They said that he needs to register the properties by x date otherwise they will fine him every month! He tried to contact them by email and phone but he gets NO answer. This has been going on for months now.

If the system worked as it is intended to, there would be no issue, but I've heard similar stories from others about the RTB, that they are beyond useless and don't have a clue on how to fix basic issues of registration.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119549488#Comment_119549488

https://www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/covid-19-vaccine/get-the-vaccine/covid-19-vaccine-booster-dose/

The second Covid booster is available to anyone who needs it. Those categories have been decided by medical advice.

https://www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/flu-vaccine/getting/

The flu vaccine is available every year from October to April. No point having it too soon and it wears off.

Misinformation is not a good thing. I am reminded of the fairy tale of Chicken Little running around saying that the sky is falling down.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553206#Comment_119553206

Yeah, there were a number of articles this year with landlords complaining. Not surprising that a busy Minister working 24/7 wasn't up to speed on the new rules.

shirrup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553195#Comment_119553195

I own a property, which I live in. Mortgage on it.

I'm asking what the relevance is to minister Donnelly not registering them?

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553195#Comment_119553195

the real argument being, theres clearly a serious conflict of interest between politicians and property ownership!

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552736#Comment_119552736

So?

Is the rent over the asking price for similar properties in the area?

The quote about above HAP in the area 😂

I hate to tell you and the ditch that people rent houses all the time. It is actually more houses we need for renting, not less

He should declare correctly and well done the Irish Times for finding out. All LL no matter what day job should be registered correctly

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553266#Comment_119553266

What relevance is the amount of rent he charges to him not registering it?

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553273#Comment_119553273

Not when you take into consideration the changes in laws over the last few years which has put the tenant at a serious advantage over the LL

If it was a conflict then wouldnt the TD change the law to allow them to do whatever they wanted?

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553400#Comment_119553400

both ll's and tenants are slowly becoming more and more exposed, the whole process is starting to collapse, its arguable that tenants are gaining as such, but both entities are in serious trouble, hence why many ll's are running, and who can blame them....

we dont live in such a state, politicians cant blatantly implement policies that directly benefit them, but its clearly obvious, theres a serious conflict of interest in place in regards the process, the last few weeks has once again shown this, you cannot have politicians directly benefitting from the polices they help to implement, the whole process is wrecked, and i suspect the people have had enough of this blatancy

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553437#Comment_119553437

If you can't have politicians directly benefitting then how can you do that?

It's a fact a politician could lose his job tomorrow, so they have to have alternative incomes. Unless you want every TD/politicans paid for the moment they decide to be one to the moment they retire, elected or not.

Then you could tell them not to have any other income

Otherwise it will never work

This jumping up and down over rentals is childish and the article in "the ditch" again proves what a rabble it is. All they want is some faux outrage and then get the usual to share around while getting over the top outraged. While making excuses if the parttyy they support is at the exact same thing

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553470#Comment_119553470

we re clearly experiencing a catastrophic failure of our housing polices, if we continue to roll over conflicts of interest in regards this, it ll never be resolved, ever!

yes, its virtually impossible to have no conflicts of interest, but if they are found, measures should be taken to minimise them, to prevent personal gains, but this is rarely done, for example such individuals should never play a part in forming such policies, difficult id imagine, but....

politicians are generally reasonably well protected from lose of 'employment', compared to the average worker

...we clearly need to break the connection of housing to vested interests, as its clearly catastrophically failing....

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553528#Comment_119553528

A few TD's been a LL is not the reason of the housing crisis

When you have the likes of DCC from 2014-2019 ending up with 1300 less houses while a huge growth of population in the city is the reason why we have a housing crisis.

How can you stop personal gain? its fairy land stuff to be honest. No other professional has their contracts renewed every few years by a huge group of people who will/won't renew it depending on what way the wind blows. It doesn't matter how good/bad you are during the period. Performance is not rewarded and also in a lot of cases poor performance is not stopped.

Like take last election, it was a revolt election, so a local TD who has done excellent work for years get dumped out of their job. We end up with some person who I haven't seen since election and is not active at all in the area. Why did they get voted in? well it was vote for that party and nobody else.

Cluedo Monopoly

No wonder the Housing Plan is failing. We have a government full of landlords deciding housing policy with obvious vested interests.

I believe O'Brien was flying kites recently for budget tax breaks for small landlords. Troy may not qualify but Stephen D possibly does...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553638#Comment_119553638

Well there seems to be a shortage of them. My colleagues are having awful problems getting somewhere to live.

jmcc

This drip feed of stories on FF politicians makes it very difficult for FFG to get ahead of the stories. It also raises questions about Martin's leadership.

Regards...jmcc

markodaly

What I was talking about earlier.

https://twitter.com/CromCoops/status/1565260448156602374?s=20&t=LUSuNBfxlqPa2iP3KFlnrw

Why did the RTB change his around?

If you have a tenant there and he is there year in, year out, why do you need to re-register it?

They should reform RTB tbh.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119553912#Comment_119553912

I don't think I can remember a busier summer recess in terms of the government continually having to defend themselves.

I am genuinely worried about the upcoming winter in relation to SMEs going bust in significant numbers, the health service deteriorating to dangerous new lows and real hardship/ homelessness.

The government isn't stable enough or decisive enough to tackle these problems. We'll just hear the usual waffle around "plans" and "billions" with zero detail.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555486#Comment_119555486

It is very worrying for SMEs. It is going to add up to a lot of very angry voters who have lost their businesse and who will see the current bunch of FFG as nothing more than overpaid incompetents to be eradicated at the ballot box in the next GE. If FFG does nothing about energy costs and continues to mutter platitudes to its presstitute friends in the media about how they "understand" what the electorate is going through, it would be no surprise at all to see FF and FG seat counts being halved at the next GE. Stuff like Troy Story and Donnelly are only adding to the problems FFG is facing.

Regards...jmcc

Cluedo Monopoly

Donnelly is making a fool of himself on Virgin News. Waffle. More to come on it I reckon.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555531#Comment_119555531

Completely agree. Neither party will be able to buy a transfer and they will be scrambling for seats.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555555#Comment_119555555

And he's generally reckoned to be one of the smarter FFers. As for Martin reappointing Calleary, it is like he wants to destroy FF.

Regards...jmcc

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555618#Comment_119555618

I suppose if any ordinary taxpayers are caught breaking the rules they need to take a lead out of Donnelly's book and just say is "It shouldn't have happened" and maybe "lessons were learned".

Calleary might go to light show party when the electricity bills get really high over winter.

They're trying too hard to be seen as elite.

Fine Gael 2011 - New Politics document...

"Fine Gael, the party that created the State and declared it a Republic, will build a New Republic in Ireland - where trust is restored in our democratic institutions and the concerns of the Citizen, rather than the elites, are placed firmly at the centre of government."

Liars

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555618#Comment_119555618

Oh, he's a prime candidate for losing his seat anyway. It fell his way in 2020 but not that well liked in Wicklow I believe. Either of the FG candidates in his wake could pip him next time or SF get a second person home.

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555248#Comment_119555248

Annual registration is required per legislation passed by members of the Oireachtas.

Whatever about making excuses for your relatives it can't be argued that Donnelly wasn't aware of same since he most likely voted for it.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555742#Comment_119555742

Not if there's a general backlash against FF/FG. Based on some of the trends from the polls, the electorate is beginning to treat FF and FG as the same party with transfers occurring with in the parties. If 2020 was weird in terms of transfers, the next one may be a lot more so.

Regards...jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555618#Comment_119555618

Looks like jobs for the boys,same as that bord failte executive,who resigned mid COVID controversy,whom was quietly reappointed to another state board and covered up/hushed

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556016#Comment_119556016

Yep. The last thing that electorate needed to be reminded of was that FF/FG/etc partied while people died. That's a thing that's going to hit FF in the next GE. All because Martin reappointed Calleary. There are serious questions about Martin's competence and depending on the next few opinion polls, FF backbenchers may be worried enough about their seats to start a leadership challenge.

Regards...jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556446#Comment_119556446

Cynic in me suspects,many of the backbenchers are hinging on getting a junior ministry when government resigns for reshuffle,and the pensions that accrue

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556548#Comment_119556548

Good point. :)

Regards...jmcc

Cluedo Monopoly

Norma Foley has made a mess of the Leaving Cert results again. It looks like the marks are excessive again this year. 35% will get more than 500 points due to grade inflation. It was 15% pre Covid. So some courses will high points will have do random selection because so many will be eligible.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555992#Comment_119555992

You keep talking about this, based it seems off these polls in the middle of nowhere so who will they actually vote for? For the voters you're talking about it was typically a case of not voting for one party or the other. Labour and SDs are about it, seeing as people have also the Greens written off as well. There really is no home in SF for many voters no matter what you imagine the polls say.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119557856#Comment_119557856

The percentage of non-party voters is much higher than the percentage of party supporter voters. The mistake that a lot of people, including journalists, make is in treating those who express a preference for voting for a party in an opinion poll as a supporter of a party. Most of the are not. The non-party aligned or floating vote decides the outcome of GEs.The Greens have, like PBP, a strong ideological element among their voters.The SocDems have become Labour without the baggage and this is why Labour wanted to take over the SocDems. FFG is caught in a rapidly altering political landscape but more importantly, the electorate is changing due to more younger voters coming into the electorate. Most don't have the political affiliations of their parents and grandparents and the opinion poll demographics have been suggesting the decline of some parties in younger demographics. What may be emerging is a classic Left/Right political axis in Irish politics with SF and some others on the Left of centre and FF/FG and some others like Labour and the Greens on the Right of centre. The Greens are far more to the Right than continental Greens. Labour showed just how much they cared for the Working Classes with the gleeful imposition of the Water Tax and Austerity. Little differentiates Labour from FG.

The real problem for FFG, from some of these polls, is that the electorate is beginning to treat FF and FG as a single party with one poll suggesting that second preferences would stay within FF/FG. That is a very dangerous prospect for FF/FG because of electoral fratriciding. This is where a party runs too many candidates and two candidates knock each out in later counts allowing a candidate who is marginally ahead of both to get the seat. The combined number of votes of the two candidates would be enough for a seat but because the votes were split, the other candidate would win.

Fratriciding has happened in various GEs and also in 2020. (Casey/Greeens winning in Waterford is one example.) FF and FG may have to have a combined candidate strategy and an electoral pact if they want to avoid it playing out on a larger scale. The problem for FF is that it has lost its identity under Martin. Martin appears to be a wannabe FGer more than an FFer and his leadership has, since 2016, damaged FF. If SF breaks through the 40% barrier in the next few polls, that would suggest that it is on course for a possible majority government. That would have a major impact on the stability of the FFG government especially if FF's support falls to around 14%. Voters often vote in their own interests first but there is also a kind of crowd dynamic to the way that votes shift.Martin's weak leadership and Varadkar's incompetence combined with that crowd dynamic in 2020 saw FF lose seats where it should have gained and FG have one of its worst ever GE results.

The fact that an SF majority government is a possibility should bring FFG to its senses but it seems to be wandering around like a headless chicken from PR disaster (Troy Story) to PR disaster (Donnelly) while voters struggle with increasing energy bills and the rising cost of living.

Regards...jmcc

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559087#Comment_119559087

The electorate is not seeing FF and FG as one party. This is been pushed by one group of people. That's it.

At this stage it seems they think if they repeat it enough it will become true.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119557856#Comment_119557856

The more that I think about the Green Party, the more unusual it appears in electoral terms. In the 2020 GE, it benefited from the Greta Thunberg hysteria. It also benefited from the implosion of Labour and the shift of the "issues" vote that had previously voted for Labour. They might call themselves "progressives" but they are really just as self-interested as any other vote. The problem for these progressives was that the Greens were essentially, as someone described them, FG on bikes. Some of the progessives split to form the Green Left party and that party has sunk without trace.

In terms of support in the opinion polls, the Greens have been relatively stable even accounting for the problems of guesstimating the support of small parties in 1K sample polls. If there is a widespread backlash against FF/FG and those parties make a mess of their campaign in Dublin Bay South, the Greens could gain a second seat there (Claire Byrne) at the expense of Labour's Bacik. It will lose some seats though.

If FG continues to have problems with the polls, there could even be a drift to the Greens by floating FG-inclined voters. What the Greens have not been able to do, so far, is to move beyond the ecological element and become a party with a wider appeal. If it is to do so then the Greens need to champion the reduction of energy bills either by hitting the energy companies hard with a windfall tax or subsidies for bill payers. That might actually gain seats for the Greens but it would be walking a tightrope in terms of government stability.

Regards...jmcc

brokenangel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559426#Comment_119559426

The Green party, if you check the elections, have been growing in each government and local election.

The 2019 local elections even resulted in the Taoiseach coming out and saying the people had spoken and they needed to concentrate on Green initiatives.

Nothing to do with Greta who was having a huge impact on people in school, the next generation of voters. Not the current ones

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119555890#Comment_119555890

My point was that in my relative's case, they were registered according to the left hand of the RTB, yet the right hand of RTB said they weren't.

I've heard similar stories of the RTB making a mess of it in terms of the implementation of the changes. Dare I say, a lot of the confusion could be just down to red tape and an inefficient arm of the state.

Also, a key thing here, Donnelly did tell SIPO about this property from day one, so he wasn't hiding it.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556920#Comment_119556920

Someone was complaining a few days ago that Norma Foley had disappeared over the summer.

Now it seems that her poor hand must be worn out from correcting all those Leaving Cert papers. The poor woman, she must have been at it day and night.

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119556920#Comment_119556920

How is she personally responsible for the marks? Tell us exactly what she did in reference to this.

And I say this as someone who doesn't think much of Norma Foley, but I think less of the Dept. of Education and less again of the Teaching Unions.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559569#Comment_119559569

The reason that I don't generally reply to your posts is because they don't demonstrate any understanding of Irish politics. The Greens lost all their Dail seats in the 2011 GE. The Greens, despite your claim, benefited from the Greta Thunberg hysteria in 2020.

Regards...jmcc

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559699#Comment_119559699

You have a very poor understanding of management. Report that.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559815#Comment_119559815

Report what?

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559705#Comment_119559705

The teacher unions and the Department of Education appear moderately competent when compared to the organisation known as the State Examinations Commission.

Three kids through Leaving Cert, all have had issues with papers and won appeals. Incredibly incompetent stuff. No Minister to blame on this, this is on officials and teachers who correct. Simple procedures not followed.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559705#Comment_119559705

Fundamentally she's responsible for the dept of education and has been in charge with years

Personally I think the farce around school buses should been enough to force her to stand down,taking whole summer off and realising 2 days before schools going back the level of mess it was.....utterly utterly learned and blindly accepted incompetence

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559753#Comment_119559753

Greens are polling at 2%,have 5 TDs in off back of SF transfers and have successfully forced out it's progressive members whom helped with the transfer left stragedy adopted by parties at last election

The level of destruction Eamonn Ryan has done to that party will be studied by political science students the world over in the future

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559881#Comment_119559881

The problem with small sample opinion polls is that while they might capture the national support of a party, TDs are elected at local level.

The national opinion polls miss the local support. Some of the Greens that were elected off SF transfers will not be reelected. The progressive supporters were gullible enough to think that they were voting for a Green Party that was much like the continental Greens (very Left by Irish standards). Some of those progressive Greens went off and formed Green Left but I think that some of the progressives who voted Green will be in play again. They will also be a few years older than they were in 2020 and some will have been directly impacted by the incompetence of FFG on Housing. A few may vote SF but the SocDems could also gain. The progressives, as a group of voters, could cause a lot of problems for FFG in that the Housing issue may upset quite a few of those who bought into FG's new image of being a kind of socially liberal party.

FF still has a conservative rural core even if Martin has completely ignored it. The three main subjects for the next GE, at the moment, seem to be Housing, Health and Energy. The next GE is shaping up to be a bloodbath for FFG. The progressives versus conservatives arguments are going to get sidelined as both sides try to pay energy bills.

The odd thing about Ryan is that he hasn't destroyed the Green Party. He is doing exactly what Greens expected. He's a bit of a gobshite but he's also a very competent politician. FF/FG really underestimated the Greens and their ruthlessness. When his position was threatened by that leadership challenge, he faced it down. The older Greens seem to understand that it is necessary for the Greens to be in government to get their policies implemented. That's a kind of realpolitik of which FF/FG are incapable as they are not ideologically driven parties.

Regards...jmcc

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119559695#Comment_119559695

It's up to all landlords to keep up with legislative change in the area. This isn't the left and right hand of RTB saying different things. The Oireachtas introduced new legislation which changed the requirements and like any other business, people should ensure they are in compliance with current legislation.