The names of The top Media Shareholders independent, Irish Times, BBC ,Water tax scam, Robbery and Treason say no to Theses bastards who want to steal our water Leslie Buckley Chairman Leslie Buckley has been the Chairman of the Board of Another 9 since 2003. He is one of Ireland’s most successful business consultants having helped manage the start-up of Esat Telecom Group plc and Esat Digifone Limited. He held the position of Chief Operations Officer of Esat Telecom in 1996 and 1997. Prior to establishing his consultancy business in 1990 he gained 20 years senior executive experience with Waterford Crystal and as Managing Director of various companies including Smurfit Corrugated Cases, Agra Meat Packers Ltd and Monaghan Mushrooms. He has since been retained on key public and private sector projects, including the previous reconstruction of Waterford Crystal plc, the reconstruction and sale of Irish Steel plc and the restructuring of Aer Lingus, Ireland’s national airline. Leslie was a founding director of Digicel – Denis O’Brien’s Caribbean-wide telecommunications company, and has been Vice Chairman since 2001. Leslie is the Chairman of Independent News and Media and the Haven Charitable trust. Steve OBrien Group CEO (U.S./Ireland/Caribbean) Steve O’Brien was an original Founding Director of Business Recovery Services Ltd. (t/a Another 9) in September 2000. Since inception, he has engineered a number of acquisitions that have been instrumental in scaling the original Dublin based Disaster Recovery operation into a multi-service global IT Data Center business. Steve received his undergraduate degree (B.A.) from Bucknell University and graduate degree (M.B.A.) from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Paul Lynch CEO Europe Paul Lynch is the CEO of Another 9’s European Operation. Lynch is responsible for strategic and business planning, Growth, Innovation and Financial Planning. Previously Paul was a co-owner and Sales Director of Hosting365. In his time with Hosting365 he grew the company revenue over 300%; introduced the Managed Services concept and brought Ireland’s first cloud computing offering to market. Lynch successfully brought the company to sale twice. Prior to Hosting365, Paul has held senior sales positions within the telecoms industry having worked in among others Esat Telecom, Nevada Telecom and Smart Telecom. Paul is a noted Cloud computing evangelist and speaks both on a national and international level on the subject. Paul has a Marketing degree from Dublin City University and is a fluent Spanish speaker. Ian Keane COO Europe Ian Keane was an original founding director of Deft Technologies in 2000 which was acquired by Another 9 in 2009. Deft specialised in Enterprise Infrastructure, Security, Disaster Recovery and Managed Services and earned a reputation for technical excellence and customer service in the Irish market. Ian drove the growth of Deft by focusing on two areas, Managed Services and Project Services. He also developed business processes that were certified to ISO9001 and ISO27001 standards. As COO Ian is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the business, a role the includes Technical leadership, Sale and Operations. Previous to Another 9 and Deft, Ian was employed by Compaq, Kindle Banking Systems, Universal, Honda and Dell Computers. Ian received his B.Sc. in Applied Computing from Waterford IT and a graduate degree in Computing from the Open University. Paul McDonnell Chief Technology Officer As Chief Technology Officer at Another9, Paul is not only involved in a strategic decision making process as to what technologies and services are adopted by Another 9, but also responsible for how they are implemented and architected within the global business. Paul has over twenty years’ experience in the industry and in this time has worked in all aspects of Information Technology, with specialisation in virtualisation and cloud computing technologies. Working with clients in Government, Financial Services, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation and Construction amongst other industries, has provided him extensive experience in the design, architecture and service delivery of critical business solutions. Denis OBrien Shareholder Denis O’Brien is one of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs with extensive investments across several sectors including international telecoms, radio, media, property, aircraft leasing, golf and other leisure interests. He also founded Communicorp Group, which owns and manages a portfolio of media and broadcasting-related companies in Ireland and seven other European countries. Denis is Chairman of the privately owned Digicel Group, one of the fastest growing Telecommunications and ICT Services companies in the world, which he founded in 2001 by launching a GSM cellular phone service in the Caribbean. It now provides services to over 12 million subscribers in 32 markets across the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Pacific RIM. Prior to establishing Digicel, Denis O’Brien founded Esat Telecom Group plc and built it throughout the 1990’s until its sale to British Telecom for €2.4 billion. Denis holds a BA degree from University College Dublin and an MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Water.ie - Water Website Traffic Estimation Irish Water Company, Water Meters, Water Charges Ireland | Based on Alexa findings, water.ie has a global traffic rank of 126,809. water.ie also reaches roughly 12,688 unique users each month and has 128 backlinks according to Alexa. Water Traffic Based on Alexa findings, water.ie has a global traffic rank of 126,809. water.ie also reaches roughly 12,688 unique users each month and has 128 backlinks according to Alexa. The estimated monthly ad revenue is $ 189.19. We estimate the website value of water.ie is currently at $ 4,540.60. Traffic and Revenue of water.ie is estimated to be increasing within the last 3 months. The domain water.ie is a .ie domain with the name water preceding it. The Server of water.ie is powered by the Roxen webserver software and the server is physically located in Ireland and uses the IP address 185.61.63.5. The average loading time of water.ie is 1425 milliseconds - this is faster than 55% of all other websites. At the DMOZ open directory project we found no listing for water.ie at this time. Updated: 11/18/2014 10:45, 3 hours ago Worldwide Rank Monthly Users* Monthly Pageviews* 126,809⇑ 12,688⇑ 418 per day* 48,211⇑ 1,585 per day* Website Value* Monthly Earnings* Daily Earnings* $ 4,540.60⇑ $ 189.19⇑ $ 6.22⇑ *Estimated Traffic and Value Data Site Title Irish Water Company, Water Meters, Water Charges Ireland | Irish Water Site Description The website for Irelands new water utility company Irish Water. Find out why Irish Water was established, about water metering, billing and jobs. Keywords and Tags No keywords or tags for water.ie that we could find. Below you will find additional research and charts about water.ie. Be sure to leave any comments about water.ie using Facebook below. Estimated Value and Traffic Earnings and Traffic by Country Country Rank Daily Earnings Views pct. Views abs. Users pct. Users abs. Ireland 420 $ 6.01 96.5% 1,530 93.6% 391 United Kingdom 109193 $ 0.15 2.2% 35 3.3% 14 United States 1112306 $ 0.06 0.8% 13 1.2% 6 OTHER $ 0.00 0.4% 7 1.9% 8 Earnings and Traffic by City City Rank Daily Earnings Views pct. Views abs. Users pct. Users abs. Dublin, IE 486 $ 2.14 34.3% 544 32.7% 137 OTHER $ 4.08 65.7% 1,042 67.1% 280 water.ie.websitetrafficspy Traffic Charts An empire of media – and muffins From property and radio to cafes, Denis O’Brien has many business interests Billionaire businessman Denis OBrien has recently added the Beacon Hospital, Topaz Energy and others, to his portfolio. Colm Keena takes a look at the steady stream of Irish acquisitions by the businessman over recent years. Video: Darragh Bambrick Colm Keena • Fri, Jun 13, 2014, 06:00 Denis O’Brien is the largest owner of private media assets in the State, with a 29.9 per cent shareholding in Independent News & Media, as well as being the owner of the Communicorp radio group, which owns several Irish radio stations including Newstalk, Today FM and Spin. O’Brien’s holding in INM is held by way of Baycliffe Ltd, an Isle of Man company that he uses for many of his investments. His ownership in Communicorp is held directly. Communicorp is a loss-making business and so does not pay corporation tax. The INM titles include the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Sunday World, Star, Evening Herald and 13 regional titles, including the Drogheda Independent, Kerryman and the People group titles. Dublin properties By way of several Irish incorporated companies, including unlimited company Partenay, O’Brien owns a number of valuable properties in central and south central Dublin. Property developer Bernard McNamara, who is just emerging from bankruptcy in the UK, is reported to be in the running for the contract for the construction of a new office block on the southeast corner of St Stephen’s Green, the site of the former Canada House. The building is being developed by O’Brien’s company Island Capital Services, which provides services to Partenay and other O’Brien companies. Island Capital has agreements with O’Brien’s Bermuda-based Digicel Group, in relation to the raising of finance by Digicel, and charged it €10.9 million for these services in 2012, according to its most recent accounts. Of this, €2 million went to Communicorp, which also provided services linked to the fundraising. The two issued shares in Island Capital Services are held in trust, one by Dublin-based O’Brien associate David Sykes, and a second by Danemann Ltd of Atlantic House, Douglas, the Isle of Man. Partenay has registered charges involving 25 and 27 Donnybrook Road, a property on Wellington Road, and a property on Raglan Road, all in Dublin 4. The shares in Partenay are owned by Clyde Properties Ltd and Clyde Ltd, both with addresses in Barclays House, Douglas, the Isle of Man. Mr O’Brien also holds a 3.9 per cent in the former State airline, Aer Lingus. Baycliffe, O’Brien’s Isle of Man investment vehicle, is the major shareholder in BBCM Group Ltd, the UK holding company of a group that owns the BB’s Coffee and Muffin outlets and franchises in Ireland and Britain. The other shareholders in BBCM are David Sykes and Paddy McCarthy. The group reported a pretax profit of £2.2 million (€2.73 million) in the year to the end of 2012, bringing accumulated losses down to £10.9 million. O’Brien is the controlling shareholder in Irish commercial aircraft-leasing group Aergo Capital Ltd, and IT and disaster recovery firm Business Recovery Services Ltd, which owns the Another 9 name. Leslie Buckley appointed chairman of INM Independent News and Media confirmed the election of Buckley as chairman and three others as company directors at today’s EGM. Aug 27 2014 File photo of Leslie Buckley. INDEPENDENT NEWS and Media shareholders have elected Leslie Buckley as its new chairman, over a year after he was ousted from the board during a re-election vote. Buckley, who founded Esat Digifone with Denis O’Brien, was a representative of O’Brien on the board at the time of his ousting in June 2011. O’Brien is INM’s largest shareholder. INM confirmed the appointment of Buckley as chairman this evening, along with the election of Jerome Kennedy, Triona Mullane and Len O’Hagan as directors of the company. “All resolutions were passed on a show of hands” during an extraordinary general meeting today, INM group chief executive Vincent Crowley said in a statement. Crowley was appointed Group CEO following the resignation of Gavin O’Reilly from the post in April. Business Recovery Services Limited was set up on Thu the 11th of Jun 1998 in Dublin 7. Their current status is Normal. The companys current directors Paul Lynch, Ian Keane, Steven OBrien, Gerard Molloy and Leslie Buckley have been the director of 73 other Irish companies between them; 25 of which are now closed. Business Recovery Services Limited has 2 shareholders. Independent News & Media PLC today announces the results of the resolutions proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting (‘EGM’) held on 27 August 2012 at the Conrad Hotel, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. All resolutions were passed on a show of hands. Accordingly, the Company is pleased to announce that Mr. Leslie Buckley, Mr. Jerome Kennedy, Ms. Triona Mullane and Mr. Len O’Hagan were elected Directors of the Company with immediate effect. inmplc/news/uploads/Results_of_EGM_27_Aug_12.pdf Previously, Irish Water told the Journal: Q:Has Irish Water tested its cyber-security systems for data breaches? They told us: “All Irish Water systems are secure to the ISO-27001 standard and regular external audits are run to ensure standards of security.” Which isnt necessarily an answer to the Journals question. Also worth noting is that Irish Water is not doing the customer service end of these things, theyve oursourced it: For customer service – which will obviously involve the use of PPS numbers – Irish Water has contracted out this work to a company called Abtran. So we asked: What steps has Irish Water taken to ensure PPS numbers are not shared by private contractors like Abtran? They are legally bound not to. “As an Irish Water contracted agent, Abtran has entered into a confidentiality agreement with Irish Water.” So then that leads to what encryption & security standards Abtran are using? Im not sure what the answer is there. Though theres a small stain on their record from an employee taking details of 11 credit cards last year via the Property Tax helpline they run: revenue.ie/en/press/archive/2013/pr-130513-credit-card.html To be honest, Im as much surprised that Irish Water took an additional data-protection risk by outsourcing customer-service as I am by Irish Water not being certified for the security standard the claim to operate under. Anyway, Irish Water are not getting any data from me until these questions are fully answered. Then theres the matter of Irish Water data possibly leaving the EEA, we dont have an opt-out here: Data that we collect from you may be transferred to a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Where this is the case, Irish Water shall be responsible for ensuring that all relevant laws are complied with to secure the data. It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who works for us or for one of our suppliers. Just one more hilariously worrying thing, if you looking for a Investment Plan Project Summary of the major works Irish Water will undertake, youre out of luck - that section [pg 13-14] is blank! Theyve made such an incompetent mess of so many other things so far, I think it would be foolish to assume that theyre good for data-protection & computer security. Its just as likely theyre hiding something, remember how long it took to tell us what the charges even were!? They have form. Edit: As the comments below mention, Abtran are the good guys in this scenario. They are already certified / compliant with industry standards (and by the looks of it over & above the standard). So this leaves us with the situation where Abtran are obliged to return data to Irish Water who are not certified, who may send your data outside the EEA (where presumably Irish Data Protection law cant have any say). It would also make you wonder how Irish Water managed to sit down with Oracle & IBM, give them tens of millions in consultancy fees and still fail to get certified. I imagine Abtran didnt have those resources - so how did Oracle, IBM & Irish Water manage less between them? Report reveals Irish Water consultancy overspend Sunday 12 January 2014 22.09 1 of 2 A confidential report obtained by RTÉs This Week shows the Government expected Irish Water would be established using Bord Gáis existing operational capacity in the specific areas of IT, asset management, customer billing systems, and other key functions. The unpublished 20-page report, which was drawn up in September 2012, sets out how Irish Water would be implemented over the following five years as a subsidiary of the Bord Gáis Group. However, it makes no reference to any use of external consultants to create or operate key IT or other systems. It went on to declare the current Governments determination that the use of such existing capacities in the State sector was a central element of any new functions being taken on by public bodies. Irish Water boss John Tierney last week revealed the agency has spent €50m on consultants during the agencys set up phase. Lucrative contracts were awarded to consultants including IBM, Accenture, and Oracle, it emerged. The unpublished report marked “confidential” was drawn up by the Irish Water Consultancy Group, the inter-agency group set up by the Government, which included the Department of Environment, Bord Gáis, and local authority employee unions. The IWCG also had a remit to report on progress directly to the Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan. The report, which is a roadmap for the implementation of Irish Water, was created just six months after the Government decided to create Irish Water as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis. The report sets out how the Government anticipated at that time that Bord Gáis will support the establishment and operation of Irish Water through leveraging existing operational capacity in areas such as asset management, capital programme delivery, networks management, customer service and billing, finance, IT. The Bord Gáis Group has ... specific skills from its own experience of transformation, customer relations, network management, metering and utility operation that can be deployed to assist in the successful establishment and operation of Irish Water, according to the report. The approach also reflects the Governments determination to use capacity and competencies that exist in the State sector in undertaking new functions, the report states. However according to tender documents published on the European tendering system, the Official Journal of the European Union, the services that Irish Water has acquired from external consultants includes asset management services, customer services, and other IT functions. The tenders were advertised by Bord Gáis just months after the Governments decision to place Irish Water under their remit and the contracts were awarded in late 2012 and early 2013, with Irish Water saying that these mostly went to the major companies that it has named - IBM, Accenture and Oracle. Mr Hogan has said the money spent would be examined by the Commission for Energy Regulation when it assesses Irish Waters submission on water prices shortly. Meanwhile, the Oireachtas Environment Committee said it will quiz Irish Water over the amount spent on consultants when they appear before the committee on Tuesday. Chairman of the committee Michael McCarthy said Irish Water will have to explain the spending of €50m. Speaking on the This Week programme, Mr McCarthy said the meeting between representatives of Irish Water and the Oireachtas Environment Committee next Tuesday should show accountability and transparency. I think its reasonable to assume that given the fact that Bord Gáis were very much the midwife of Uisce Éireann that the resources and capacity that they had would, in so far as practicable, facilitate the creation of Irish Water. Thats the purpose of Tuesdays meeting to find out, once thats the reasonable assumption, why then do you spend money on consultants? Revenue Statement regarding Attempted Credit Card Fraud by an Abtran Employee The Revenue Commissioners are extremely concerned to learn about an incidence of attempted credit card fraud by an employee of Abtran the company, which operates the LPT Helpline on their behalf, and are treating the matter very seriously. Revenue understands that details in relation to 11 credit cards were improperly obtained by an unauthorised employee but most importantly no cardholder has suffered any loss. The Commissioners understand that the matter is in the hands of An Garda Siochana. In the circumstances it would not be appropriate to comment further on that aspect of the matter. The credit card companies involved have been alerted by An Garda Siochana who in turn are alerting cardholders who may be affected. Revenue is also contacting the customers where we have contact details to reassure them and to answer any questions they may have. Since this incident also constitutes a data breach, Revenue has reported the matter to the Data Protection Commissioner and his Office is advising us. Most importantly, the Commissioners underline that neither this employee nor anyone else in Abtran has access to any of Revenues IT systems. Because all calls to the LPT Helpline are recorded, sophisticated call management and recording systems have been interrogated to seek to identify any other similar risks. Abtran has assured Revenue in that regard and the Commissioners are satisfied that the company is treating this matter with the utmost seriousness. When the Commissioners extended the facility to pay and file online, via the LPT Helpline, special arrangements were put in place in line with best practice in the payment processing sector. These involved the setting up of a filing team who are located in a clean secure environment with additional monitoring features, who do not have access to mobile phones or any other facility to record personal or payment details. Anybody who paid and filed their return via the LPT helpline, and who is concerned about their payment details should consider the following: Did they select the on-line payment option from the menu or, if not, were they transferred from a first agent to a second agent before giving payment details? Were they asked for their personal and property details? Were they asked for their payment details? Were they asked to confirm and declare that all their details were correct? Did they, within 2 weeks of filing, receive acknowledgement of their payment from Revenue? If the answer to all the questions is Yes they can be assured that their details were handled correctly. They should of course also check their credit card account. Anybody who has paid and filed online via the LPT helpline and who still has concerns can check their LPT payment details on revenue.ie or may call a dedicated Revenue number 1890-22-63-36 available from 9am tomorrow morning. Finally, the Commissioners wish to assure credit card customers that the Revenue on-line system on revenue.ie is completely secure. In regard to the telephone filing service the Commissioners also wish to reiterate that Abtran has assured them that payment details are dealt with in line with the highest standards in the payment processing sector. [Ends: 12/05/13] Still have questions about water charges? You might find the answers here Oct 19 2014 AFTER MANY MONTHS in the headlines, and amid a series of controversies and mass street protests, questions still abound about how exactly water charges will work. Setting aside, for a moment, arguments about the fairness of the system, there is still uncertainty about how Irish Water will operate in certain scenarios. Previously, the utility has been forced to clear up stubborn operational questions about landlord/tenant arrangements, and bonuses for their staff, for example. TheJournal.ie compiled a small selection of persistent questions, and put them to Irish Water – here’s what they told us. What exactly happens if you don’t pay? Irish Water still hasn’t clearly answered this crucial question. They told us: “This will be approached on a case by case basis.” Medical conditions This is still an extremely messy one. If you have a medical condition that requires high consumption of water, you won’t have to pay extra for it. But there is no clear list of medical conditions that qualify – essentially, there is an “honour system.” You declare yourself in the “vulnerable customer” section of the validation form. However, Environment Minister Alan Kelly told the Dáil on 7 October that Irish Water “may selectively audit” these claims, “to ensure that the scheme is not subject to abuse.” Under such an investigation, the customer would be asked to produce “supporting evidence from a medical practitioner,” the Minister said. We asked Irish Water: How long will a customer get to give that evidence, and could they face fines, retroactive payments, or even legal proceedings if it’s decided that their medical condition claim was unfounded or fraudulent? Irish Water said: “There are no plans in place for selective auditing. This would be a matter for Government.” TheJournal.ie asked for clarification on this from the Department of Environment, but we haven’t yet received a response. Changing your address, and shared custody If an application pack isn’t delivered to where you live, do you have to pay charges? They didn’t directly answer this question, but said: “Irish Water is currently advising people if they haven’t received an application pack to contact Irish Water on 1850-448-448.” Are customers obliged to notify Irish Water if they change address? Or will Irish Water be keeping track of who uses water at which address? If you move house, it’s up to YOU to tell Irish Water, and “update [your] account details.” Where a parent shares custody of a child, can they avail of the child allowance, even if their address is not the child’s permanent or primary address? Although they didn’t explicitly rule it out, it doesn’t look like it: “The free allocation of water to children applies to the primary residence of the child.” PPS Numbers, privacy, and cyber-security If a customer sends in their PPS number to avail of allowances, but changes their mind later, how does that private information get removed from the Irish Water database? “Customers can contact Irish Water at any time and can withdraw from receiving the allowance,” they said. According to Irish data protection law, there are eight basic rules for a body possessing or using personal data. One of them is “You must retain it no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose or purposes.” Irish Water recently told us that they would hold on to your PPS number for as long as you’re claiming an allowance (either the household or child allowance). If you were only claiming the child allowance, once the child turns 18 and they’re no longer eligible for it, Irish Water will automatically take your PPS number off its system, they said. In general, the utility says: In accordance with data protection requirements, Irish Water will not hold personal data that is not required for the administering of accounts or providing water services. For customer service – which will obviously involve the use of PPS numbers – Irish Water has contracted out this work to a company called Abtran. So we asked: What steps has Irish Water taken to ensure PPS numbers are not shared by private contractors like Abtran? They are legally bound not to. “As an Irish Water contracted agent, Abtran has entered into a confidentiality agreement with Irish Water.” Has Irish Water tested its cyber-security systems for data breaches? They told us: “All Irish Water systems are secure to the ISO-27001 standard and regular external audits are run to ensure standards of security.” ISO/IEC 27001 is an information security standard certified by the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation), and is regarded as international best practice. Any more questions? Of course there are. First, though, have a look through our coverage of Irish Water and water charges, as well as the Questions and Answers section of Irish Water’s website, just in case. If you still can’t find an answer, let us know in the comments section below. We’ll do our best to pass on your queries to Irish Water, and we’ll let you know what they told us. We put your questions to Irish Water – here’s what they told us SO MANY QUESTIONS. Oct 29 2014 DESPITE THE PUSHING back of the deadline for applications to the end of November, water charges are still dogged by mass opposition. There are more questions than answers, it seems, when it comes to Irish Water operations and logistics. We’ve put these questions to the utility in the past, with varying responses. For our second instalment, we took some of your own queries, and passed them on to Irish Water. Here’s what they told us: ‘I refuse’ What exactly are the procedures in the event of non-payment or refusal to pay? Short version: Slowed down water and a day in court are possible. Longer version: Irish Water will respond to those who don’t pay on a case by case basis. Options available to Irish Water include reducing the water supply to a home and pursuing debts through the courts system. However, these options would be last resorts and we would endeavour to work with customers in assisting them in paying their bills in accordance with our codes of practice, as agreed with the Commission for Energy Regulation. ‘I changed my mind’ We’ve had a good few enquiries about this. It appears there are a significant number of people who sent in their application packs (complete with PPS numbers), but have since decided to opt out. How exactly can an individual retract their application pack, and how does Irish Water make sure it’s not being retracted without that person’s knowledge? Short version: Unclear. Longer version: Irish Water does not provide the facility to retract application packs… If someone requests their PPS number removed, this will be done, but Irish Water cannot retract the other information, as Irish Water needs to bill people. If they request their PPS numbers removed, this will be done, and they’ll get their bill without the allowances to which they are entitled. Customers wishing to make any changes to their details can contact the customer services team on 1890 448 448. In accordance with Data Protection legislation, customers will be asked a number of security questions, for example their application number and Pin. Rebates and allowances Irish Water and the CER has said households will be eligible for a rebate if they use less water than the assessed charge. However, they need a meter to prove this. How can Irish Water proceed with the promised rebate in the case of households where a meter has not been installed by January, or even later? Short version: Tough luck – you’ll have to wait to get rebates as a reward for limiting your water use. Longer version: The rebate is in place for nine months following the installation of a meter, so for houses who do not have a meter by January, this nine-month period will start only from the time their meter is installed. A few of you were concerned about the 30,000-litre household allowance ending in 2016. Short version: It won’t. Longer version: There is no expiry date in the case of the household allowances, but the child allowance expires once the child reaches 18. How can anyone without a PPS number (for example, some foreign nationals), apply for the allowances? Short version: They can’t (unless they go and get a PPS number). Longer version: You need a PPS number to apply for allowances. There are very few people living in Ireland who do not have a PPS number, and those who don’t can apply for one. Data protection We previously asked Irish Water what it does to test the security of its data systems, and they said they were “secure to the ISO-27001 standard,” (international best practice). So we asked – Is Irish Water actually certified by the ISO, to 27001 standards? Short verion: Nope. Longer version: Irish Water operates to ISO 27001 but is not yet certified. There are bound to be more questions out there, and we want to hear them. Check out our previous round-up, have a look through our coverage of Irish Water and water charges, as well as the Questions and Answers section of Irish Water’s website, just in case. If you still can’t find an answer, let us know what your question is. Gavin O’Reilly steps down as CEO of INM Vincent Crowley, current Group Chief Operating Officer, appointed in his place. Apr 19 2014 GAVIN O’REILLY has stepped down as the chief executive of Independent News and Media (INM). The move came during a board meeting this afternoon. Earlier today, it emerged that an anonymous buyer purchased 13 million shares in INM (that is two per cent of the organisation). A source had indicated to TheJournal.ie that Vincent Crowley, current Group Chief Operating Officer at INM, is to take over. That suggestion was confirmed by a statement from INM this evening. Crowley will be both CEO and an executive Director with immediate effect. The statement says that O’Reilly’s resignation “follows a compromise agreement approved unanimously by the Board of Directors”. O’Reilly has also resigned today as non-executive Chairman and Director of APN News & Media Limited (APN) in which INM holds a 29.5 equity stake. Gavin O’Reilly said: After 19 eventful years with the Company, it is time for me to pursue new opportunities. It had become clear that recent and public shareholder tensions were proving an unnecessary distraction for both me and the Company and this was not in the best interests of the Company. The Board and I agreed that what the Company needs now is a board, management team and shareholder base that is purposefully unified and aligned for the Company’s immediate challenges and for the many opportunities that exist in the future. I leave this great Company with mixed emotions, and I want to particularly thank my work colleagues and friends across Australasia, Ireland, South Africa and the UK, who I have had the great honour and privilege to work alongside. The appointment of Vincent Crowley was welcomed by James Osbourne, Chairman of INM. He said that Crowley had the “unanimous support” of the Board of INM. Crowley has been with INM for 20 years and appointed Group COO in November 2009. Osbourne said: I believe he is well equipped to position the Group for the challenges which continue to face the media industry. The annual meeting for Independent News and Media is due to take place on 8 June. The O’Reilly family have headed up INM for almost four decades. Tony O’Reilly Snr, Gavin’s father, stepped aside in 2009 from both the role of CEO and from the board of INM and was succeeded by Gavin. That move in 2009 had been supported by Denis O’Brien but in recent months, it had been suggested that O’Brien was looking to remove the younger O’Reilly from the post in a battle over control of the direction of the company. O’Brien owns over 22 per cent of INM shares. Independent News and Media Plc reported a pre-tax loss of €63.6m for 2011 earlier this year. How do Another 9 keep my data safe? Another 9 is registered with the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland, (REG. No. 11484/A ). All customer data is securely held in Ireland for Irish customers, the U.S.A. for American customers, and in Bermuda for Bermudan customers. Customer data does not leave its associated region unless explicitly requested by the customer in writing, or as part of any cross-regional service agreement. All customer data is held within our ISO27001 systems, managed under our ISO9001:2008 processes in line with Irish Data Protection legislation. Another 9 are externally audited by Certification Europe twice a year as part of their ISO standard compliancy requirements. Bob Allen Peters added 2 new photos. Tallaght Water Charge Protest Update: It has been now confired by a friend of a serving Garda member, stationed in Tallaght, that the person involved in the brick throwing incident, that was caught on video, was a serving Garda Detective based in another Dublin City Garda Station. This confirmation was made to a friend of mine who is friends with a Uniformed Garda member that made the admission. He went on to say how he was disgusted by the actions of his colleagues in Tallaght yesterday in which he witnessed women and children being pepper sprayed by Gardai. The Garda went on to further talk of his disgust at the fact that he had witnessed legitimate protesters being set up from the very start. The Garda member further stated that other members have quietly expressed their disgust at the same sight of women and childern being attacked and pepper sprayed. The Garda member was shown the images of the person throwning the brick and stated that the blue garment under the persons red jacket is a Garda issue Stab Vest, he had no doubts about that fact. The Irish Independent newspaper, owned by Tax Exile Denis OBrien, who owns GMC Sierra Ltd, later used a Photoshop Composite image created from a selection of other digital images taking by their photgraphers in the area yesterday. This fakey of images was believed to have been inspired by the fact that people were protesting outside the Independent Newspaper printing works in near City West that same day. However the attempt to discredit the legitmate protest, using the altered images, falied because people online quickly spotted that the image was clearly doctored. Also the fact that it showed no anti - water charge signs in the background of the image. The reason being is that the water charge protesters had left the area when Joan Burton was gone. The infamous brick throwning incident was captured an hour or so after Mrs Burton had left the Tallaght area and the protesters went home. Local politicians viewing the images have said that it is a say day in the nations history that a national newspaper and the Gardai conspire to discredit legimate protest over water charges. IMB - Fluoride added to water supply is classed as a food stuff Published on Apr 24, 2014 Amazing! The Communications Director at the Irish Medicines Board states that once hydrofluorosilicic acid is added to the drinking water for the purposes on prevention of tooth decay, it becomes a food stuff Wow!What a brilliant team of scientists they have working at the Irish Medicines (and Alchemy) Board! Endless deception and dissembling by the Irish medical establishment. Why are they so desperate to keep fluoridation going at all costs? It seems that its really just to protect the reputations of a few very powerful people -- Prof Denis OMullane, Prof Helen Whelton, and, especially, Prof Shane Allwright whose father was a big-shot fluoridator. fluoride is rat poison not rat food. get that shit out of our water.. .Irish Medicines (and Alchemy) Board what a shower of useless fu*ks. Hes just a brick in the wall, totally pointless talking to him. Mass signatures is whats required, thousands!!! Demanding the removal, not requesting it. If we come together with signatures then they have no choice but to remove it. So! Quelle surprise! The IMB annihilation agenda followers par excellence . Does this further a corporate objective ..... .? Check box - yes . Proceed with all due haste to implement bad stuff on behalf of international financial thugs, then obstruct and delay all that which supports human wellness Oh God why do we have to put up with this ************************e about paying for the public water supply? Most rural people pay for the water they use themselves. They maintain the infrastructure themselves. So why should urban people not do the same thing? As to pps numbers a big proportion of the population do all their business on line giving all details of bank accounts etc to do so. Why make an exception of the water supply? Some rural people use private schemes run by themselves and with no chance of being sold to off shore tax exiles. Likewise neither are they metered but pay a fixed annual charge which is usually around 160 euro which I am told can be paid every quarter to the person maintaining the well. Irish Water on the otherhand is a licence to print money and this was always the intention when it was set up. Nobody I know who uses the rural well scheme had to provide their PPS numbers to the person providing the water from the private well. As there is very little likelihood of our country enduring a drought in the near future perhaps your friends in FG could give a blanket guarantee of no price rises in Irish water until such a happening occurs in our country. Looking out my window last night you could be forgiven for thinking that we were in the monsoon part of the world. The heading is Irish Water and Another 9 What is it about then if not about water? Partisan party political The ownership of the media? I have been giving out about the incompetence of the media during the boom. They are no more competent now. The ownership change if there was one has not made a difference. They are still incompetent. Siemens cheaper water meter offer snubbed by Minister Hogan Roisin Burke PUBLISHED 22/04/2012 | 05:00 Environment Minister Phil Hogan snubbed a private-sector offer to finance water meters that could have saved over €350m. German infrastructure and energy giant Siemens offered to foot the €810m-plus cost of installing meters in 1.3 million Irish homes back in 2010, but Mr Hogan didnt pursue the option when he took over at the Department of the Environment. One of the biggest players in the British water meter market, Siemens proposed funding the fitting of water meters through an investment to be paid back through savings made in the multibillion-euro cost of providing water services once the meters were installed. Instead the National Pensions Reserve Fund will be raided for €450m to pay some of the bill. The loan from its coffers will have to be paid back with interest at commercial rates, Mr Hogan has admitted, which would be at least €350m. Added to the estimated €810m installation fee, that brings the national water meter fitting bill to well over €1bn. In 2010, Siemens Ireland boss Werner Kruckow made the offer publicly and sought discussions with then Finance Minister Brian Lenihan to follow up. Mr Kruckow also proposed that the multinationals own bank finance other energy saving measures in government departments and public buildings. Mr Hogans predecessor, John Gormley was enthusiastic about the Siemens offer at the time but it wasnt progressed under Mr Hogans tenure. Siemens told the Sunday Independent that no formal offer was made by the department following discussions with officials. Big utility companies have done such deals in other countries, including Britain, where United Utilities and Southern Water have provided homes with free water meters as part of service contracts with local authorities. Siemens appears to still be looking for a piece of the action, however, stating: We are closely following the developments in relation to the formation of Irish Water and will respond to the Government in due course through the normal public sector procurement process. In other words its likely to seek tenders in the potentially lucrative Irish water service market. In other countries households pay as much as €200 a month for water where services are metered. Siemens is eager to expand internationally in this field. Its website says it provides metering services to over 14 million British homes and businesses and has 25,000 public and private sector clients. A new utility company, Irish Water, to be operated by Bord Gais is to install water meters in homes by the end of 2014, starting this October, according to the Department of the Environment. The Government estimates that the entire cost of the water services investment programme is €1.8bn. The installation cost is to be borne by households, and spread over 20 years. Asked why it hadnt pursued the Siemens offer the Department of the Environment didnt supply an explanation, but said it had chosen the Irish Water option after 12 months of discussions with stakeholders as the optimal organisational form for water services delivery in Ireland.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 14:15:08 +0000
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