On October 22nd I will be bringing forward my Broadband Bill during Private Members Time in the Seanad. I published my bill a year ago and still the Government has failed to provide universal, high-speed broadband to every household and business in Ireland. I am committed to pushing my bill through the Houses and I would like to enlist your support once more. Continue reading ‘My Broadband Bill’
My Broadband Bill
Published October 20th, 2008 in Broadband, Corporate Ireland, Regulating Auctioneers, Social PartnershipFlavin Faces His Waterloo
Published May 19th, 2008 in Bank Abuses, Consumer Affairs, Corporate Ireland, Economy, Other Issues, Regulating AuctioneersTomorrow Jim Flavin’s DCC reports full-year figures. No one is interested in the results. Everyone is interested in Flavin. It had been widely expected that Flavin would seize the day to announce a date for his retirement. If so, it will have been wrung out of him by shareholders working behind closed doors.
Now it seems that Flavin will tough it out despite a serious verdict against him in the Supreme Court. Where else in the world could a chief executive survive after being judged by the highest court in the land as dealing in shares while in possession of inside information? Where else in the world could the same chief executive have been awarded a €150,000 bonus “in recognition of the exceptional demands arising from the successful defence of the action taken by Fyffes against DCC?”
CONFESSION time: A few weeks ago, I broke bread with an auctioneer.
Throughout lunch, the words of US essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson kept ringing in my ears: “The louder he talked of his honour, the faster I counted the spoons.”
Such is my naked distrust of the whole industry.
Confession number two: I liked the man.
Seanad Should Debate Relevant Issues Like Auctioneering, Autism, and Broadband
Published February 8th, 2008 in Broadband, Childcare, Consumer Affairs, Health, Regulating AuctioneersIt is remarkable that the Seanad is talking itself into a situation where it never debates anything relevant. Time is not allocated to topical items, and we seem to debate subjects that are at times utterly irrelevant. It is not that we do not have major issues to discuss which demand time – the Broadband Bill; legislation to regulate the scoundrels in the auctioneering industry; the issue of autism. This is what I told the House during the Order of Business:
Continue reading ‘Seanad Should Debate Relevant Issues Like Auctioneering, Autism, and Broadband’
Today, let me tell you the tale of an auctioneer and an elderly lady. It has a sad beginning, but a happy ending. Colm McEvoy is a mega-rich auctioneer from Kildare. He is an establishment figure. Colm is even a member of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI), the regulator which looks down its nose at others in the same racket.
So McEvoy is an industry insider. Back in 1996, the elderly lady, Mary Maher, of Naas, Co Kildare, wanted to sell a piece of land to secure a nest egg for her old age. She asked Colm, the local auctioneer, to value it. Colm obliged. According to evidence in the High Court last week he valued it at £110,000. It was claimed in open court that the land was worth three times as much. Unfortunately for Mary, Colm sold it for £110,000.
What Has Happened To The Auctioneering Bill?
Published October 17th, 2007 in Other Issues, Regulating AuctioneersFor some time now, I have been labouring under the illusion that the Seanad is a chamber for legislation to be introduced and debated. However, when I looked at the Order Paper for the House this morning, I noticed not one item of legislation was to be discussed. It is not as if there are not items of legislation that could be discussed: There is a civil partnership Bill, a climate change Bill, and another Bill from Independents.
Worse still, the auctioneering Bill remains on hiatus. About five years ago Senator O’Toole and I raised that issue in the House and scored a considerable success in that the then Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, set up a commission to examine the malpractices of auctioneers. The result of that was the preparation of legislation which was due to come before the House in the last session but that did not happen. Here’s what I told the House: Continue reading ‘What Has Happened To The Auctioneering Bill?’
Watch My Prime Time Interview On Auctioneers Here!
Published September 26th, 2007 in Consumer Affairs, Regulating AuctioneersLast night, I appeared with Alan Cooke of the IAVI on a Prime Time Special on auctioneers. Alan accused me of knowing nothing about the auctineering business. I told him he was right - yet I managed to become one last year! Watch the full exchange between us here.
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Trinity Seanad Election 2007: Watch My Interview With Pat Kenny On The Late Late Show!
Published June 11th, 2007 in Consumer Affairs, Regulating Auctioneers, Seanad Election 2007, Transport, Westlink Bridge and M50Watch my Late Late Show interview here, where I revealed my plans to undercut all the auctioneers with my new licence and where I offered NTR €10,000 to open up the Westlink toll bridge. They later told me to stuff my ten grand!
50% Commission Rise To Be Expected From Cowboys In The Auctioneering Industry
Published May 24th, 2007 in Consumer Affairs, Regulating AuctioneersThe news that auctioneers Sherry Fitzgerald are to increase their commission rates by 50% is outrageous. Unfortunately, it is also to be entirely expected from a profession of such cowboys.
Their colleagues in the industry claim they won’t follow suit, but I wouldn’t hold my breath! Back in February, IPAV lobby’s chief executive Fintan McNamara revealed that commissions in the auctioneers’ cartel might have to go up - He had the brass neck then to claim that it was due to financial hardship! Sherry Fitz will be the first of many to raise commission rates.
Continue reading ‘50% Commission Rise To Be Expected From Cowboys In The Auctioneering Industry’
The Unregulated, Unaccountable Anarchy of Auctioneering
Published February 12th, 2007 in Consumer Affairs, Regulating AuctioneersFOR brass neck you have to hand it to Ireland’s auctioneers. Last week, the IPAV lobby’s chief executive Fintan McNamara revealed that commissions in the auctioneers’ cartel might have to go up. The reason? Impending hardship!
Apparently, now that house prices have flattened, auctioneers intend to compensate themselves by ripping off consumers even more than ever. They maintain that when demand slackens there is only one way of reacting: that is, to raise costs to the customer. If such a ploy is to work, they will all need to act in unison. Now, that is what some of us would call a cartel.
Continue reading ‘The Unregulated, Unaccountable Anarchy of Auctioneering’
