Five various senior former politicians deny offshore accounts claims in Dail today.
The names of five former politicians investigated for alleged tax evasion are listed by Mary Lou McDonald in the Dáil record's today.
Names in a dossier of former politicians who allegedly held offshore accounts have been read into the Dál record by Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Former European commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, former Progressive Democrat and Fianna Fáil minister Des O’Malley, former Fianna Fáil ministers Ray MacSharry and Gerard Collins, and former Fine Gael minister Richie Ryan have all denied ever having Ansbacher accounts.
M/s McDonald today read the names of Mr O’Malley, Ms Geoghegan-Quinn, Mr MacSharry, Mr Collins, “an S Barrett’’, Mr Ryan as well as “others” whom she did not identify into the Dáil record as allegedly having held offshore accounts.
She said they featured in a dossier compiled by a public servant who investigated tax evasion claims as part of his work in the Department of Enterprise.
Ms McDonald said it was not a case of her making allegations, “and I emphasise these are allegations’, but they had come from a very credible source.
Ansbacher accounts were funds lodged inIreland by the Cayman Islands bank, Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd. They were at the core of an unauthorised financial service run in secret by the late Des Traynor. They allowed account-holders to lodge money with Guinness Mahon Bank in College Green which was then held offshore. The money would be accessed through Mr Traynor in Dublin. They ran from 1971 and the Irish operation was finally wound up in the mid-1990s.
Mr MacSharry, a former minister for finance, described the allegations as “absolutely outrageous”.
“I have never had an Ansbacher account, I was never was the beneficiary of one,” he said, adding he never had a Guinness and Mahon account either.
Mr MacSharry said he would be consulting his legal representatives to see what recourse he has, both against Gerry Ryan, the whistleblower, as well as Ms McDonald to see whether they “have the protection” they think they have.
“None of these wildcats should be able to sully my good name,” he said.
Ms Geoghegan-Quinn, a former Fianna Fáil minister, said in a statement: “I have never had an Ansbacher account. Neither have I had an account with Guinness Mahon Bank”.
In a statement, Mr Collins, a former Fianna Fail minister for justice, said: “I have never had or held an Ansbacher Account or Guinness and Mahon Bank Account and I would welcome any investigation into this matter.”
Mr Ryan, a former finance minister, told RTÉ he “emphatically denied” ever having an Ansbacher account or an account with Guinness and Mahon. He said he was “a total stranger” to the allegations.
Mr O’Malley said the reason for his being on the list was because he had “a particular form of account with Guinness Mahon Bank” which at the time was viewed as “a perfectly respectable bank”.
“The list, and allegations of tax evasion have been extensively investigated already by the Revenue Commissioners, the Gardai and the Moriarty Tribunal several years ago. Despite this it is being raised again,” he said in a statement.
Mr O’Malley said that on his appointment as minister for industry and commerce in 1977 he was aware that he had a share in some of the companies he would be dealing with.
“In order to avoid a conflict of interest and allegations of acting in my capacity as Minister for personal benefit, I followed a practice that is standard in other countries and put my assets into a blind trust. I was advised at the time that Guinness Mahon Bank had experience of operating such trusts,” he said.
Mr O’Malley said the nature of such a trust was for the owner of the assets in trust giving power of attorney for control of his relevant assets to trustees and that as the beneficiary he had no knowledge of the stocks and shares bought on his behalf.
“I received dividends annually through Guinness Mahon Bank and I paid tax on these in Ireland,” he added. “My tax affairs remain in full compliance with the Revenue Commissioners. I have never availed of a tax amnesty and indeed opposed it when the Fianna Fail/Labourgovernment introduced one in 1993.”
He said he had never had any dealings with Mr Traynor or held an Ansbacher account, adding that he believed “that such an account would have been a breach of trust by the bank in its dealings with me”.
Alan Kelly defends the €100m increase in estimated cost of the water meters
Sinn Féin Brian Stanley queries jump from €431m to €539m in cost and why the costs have increased.
The initial estimated cost of €431 million for water metering was based on the best available information at the time, Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly told the Dáil.
He was replying to Sinn Féin spokesman Brian Stanley, who asked why the cost had increased to €539 million.
Mr Kelly said the initial estimate was based on data relating to non-domestic usage.
“It is not entirely accurate to suggest there was a big jump from €431 million to €539 million in a short period. While that figure was cited a number of times in the months prior to completion of the tendering process, it was the last estimate available.’’
Mr Stanley said the estimated cost of installing meters had increased by 20 per cent. That represented a huge proportion of the taxpayer and public money that had been soaked up thus far by Irish Water for the metering programme. “I must assume that the consultants who came up with this estimate were the same people who were paid €85 million last year. There is considerable anger about that.’’
He said a survey by local authorities, which would have been more accurate, came up with a figure of €539 million.
He asked whether Mr Kelly found it “unusual’’ that the figure happened to correspond with the estimated cost of the contracts for installing the meters arrived at six months earlier. Mr Kelly repeated that the initial figure was an estimate arrived at a long time before the tendering process.
Green vegetables are always good for the heart
Researchers confirm that green vegetables are good for the heart.
UK researchers have found that eating green vegetables may help the heart pump more efficiently.
Scientists say eating nitrate-rich leafy green vegetables will help protect against dangerous clots, heart attacks and strokes.
Eating up your greens may help the heart pump more efficiently and reduce the risk of obesity and heart attacks, UK research has recently shown.
Scientists say nitrate, found in leafy green vegetables, prevents the blood thickening, improves circulation, and protects against dangerous clots, heart attacks and strokes.
Nitrate can also help blood vessels to widen and change harmful white fat cells into brown calorie-burning fat cells that may combat obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Dr Andrew Murray, from Cambridge University, says they have shown that nitrate from the diet can help regulate the delivery of oxygen to cells and tissues and its use, matching oxygen supply and demand.
“This ensures cells and tissues in the body have enough oxygen to function without needing to over produce red blood cells, which can make the blood too thick and compromise health,” Murray said.
“Lowering the blood’s thickness without compromising oxygen delivery may also help prevent blood clots, reducing the risk of a stroke or heart attack.”
The team, whose findings are published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, found that eating more nitrate-rich vegetables like spinach reduces levels of a hormone made in the liver that helps control blood thickness.
Co-author Professor Martin Feelisch, from the University of Southampton, says the findings suggest simple dietary changes may offer treatments for people suffering from heart and blood vessel diseases that cause too many red blood cells to be produced.
“It is also exciting as it may have broader implications in sport science, and could aid recovery of patients in intensive care by helping us understand how oxygen can be delivered to our cells more efficiently.”
Two other papers published in The Journal of Physiology, and Diabetes, showed how consuming nitrate promoted blood vessel dilation and the conversion of white fat cells into the brown version.
All three studies were part-funded by the British Heart Foundation.
‘Why can’t we speak Irish’ say’s Mayo college students?
Mayo students seek answer to the language question.
Language students – Christopher Hunt (left); Paul Flynn and Aaron Hannon
Three students from St Muredach’s College, Ballina – Aaron Hannon, Christopher Hunt and Paul Flynn – have entered a project called, “Why Can’t We Speak Irish?”, for this year’s BT Young Scientist Exhibition. The project aims to find out why the majority of Irish people “do not, and cannot, speak their native language”.
The idea came from the three of them comparing and contrasting their experiences of learning Irish in, for example, Gaeltacht summer colleges. Says Aaron Hannon: “We also found that there were a lot of common beliefs among people about the Irish language which we wished to dispel.”
To that end, the Mayo men have divided their project into five sections: 1) Is there a fear factor in speaking Irish?; 2) Are teaching methods adequate?; 3) What effect do Irish colleges in Gaeltacht areas have?; 4) Is the Irish language just difficult and are we better at learning other languages?; 5) Are we just not bothered? Is it a pride issue?
They are looking for people to complete an online survey to help them answer those questions and complete their project. They need over 1,500 replies for the survey to be accurate. However, says Aaron, it only takes 10 minutes to finish and, he hopes, “It will cast light on the subject and promote the use of our native language”.
The survey is at http://goo.gl/forms/HfIWDWlHCM and the students are also setting up a blog athttp://www.whycantwespeakirish.wordpress.com which will also chart their progress.
Kenny visits Panti Bar with friends for Xmas party
Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer, Dr James Reilly and Enda Kenny and a friend at the Fine Gael LGBT party in the Panti Bar.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny dropped into one of the country’s best known gay bars tonight for what was described as a Christmas party.
Mr Kenny was in Panti Bar, run by Miss Panti, the drag queen alter ego of Rory O’Neill.
Mr O’Neill is originally from Ballinrobe in Mr Kenny’s home county of Mayo.
The Taoiseach and Children’s Minister Dr James Reilly attended the Christmas drinks of the Fine Gael Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group.
The group met in Leinster House and then went on to Pantibar.
Young Fine Gael President Dale McDermott said Mr Kenny was in Pantibar for the Fine Gael LGBT Christmas party.
“That’s a first,” he said.
But Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer said the “get together” was not a party.
The chairman of Fine Gael LGBT said Mr Kenny dropped in to show his support for the group.
Mr Buttimer said the Taoiseach was recognising their work on the gender recognition bill, the family relationship legislation and the gay marriage referendum.
“It wasn’t a party per se,” he said only his his way of acknowledging the work of the group,” he added.
Tissint meteorite could be proof of life on Mars, study claims
An International team of researchers say they have found evidence of biological activity inside a meteorite that fell to Earth from Mars three years ago — in other words, possible evidence that there was once life on the red planet.
But other scientists are not convinced.
The meteorite in question is the “Tissint” specimen, which famously fell on the Moroccan desert on July 18, 2011.
As the team of researchers — including scientists in China, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland — report in a new paper, chemical, microscopic, and isotope analyses show traces of organic carbon within tiny fissures in the space rock, and that the carbon had to have been deposited before the rock left Mars.
“I’m completely open to the possibility that other studies might contradict our findings,” Dr. Philippe Gillet, director of the EPFL Earth and Planetary Sciences Laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland and a co-author of the paper, said in a written statement. “However, our conclusions are such that they will rekindle the debate as to the possible existence of biological activity on Mars — at least in the past.”
And contradiction was not long in coming.
As Dr. Marc Fries, a scientist with NASA’s curation office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston who was not involved in the meteorite research, told The Huffington Post: “The research group claims that this carbonaceous material is evidence of past life on Mars. I do not agree, and it is not the current consensus of the scientific community that their claim is valid.”
NASA Finds Dramatic Crater Blast Zone on Mars
Fries said the meteorite could have been contaminated with carbon from terrestrial sources, even if the carbon did come from Mars.
“A biological origin is not the only possible explanation for the carbon found in Tissint,” he said in the email. “Other possibilities include volcanic and/or hydrothermal activity on Mars which could permeate Tissint with carbon-bearing fluids … Regardless of whether this particular meteorite contains evidence of life, the implications are more complicated than any simple yes or no answer to whether there is or was life on Mars.”
The study was published online in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science on November 26, 2014.
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