INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ON SUNDAY The UUP At a low ebb or in terminal decline? February 10-11, 2019 businesspost.ie Price £2.00 New columnist Deirdre Heenan page 19 HARRY’S CAFÉ Crosbie faces BREXIT fight to keep ROAD TRIP coffee kiosks in A border communitypages 6-7 High Court case on the edge page 5 pages 10-11 Labour leader pushes Vaping government access dilemma for Big Tobacco firms Just how ● Howlin and FG’s Noone among politicians canvassed by industry safe is it? Post Plus, page 1-3 ● Cigarette giants anxious to influence anti-smoking initiatives BY BARRY J WHYTE to loosen Ireland’s practice meet with them. They argued for your officials to blankly of not meeting with tobacco that their input could help to refuse to meet with industries Leading tobacco firms have companies, a policy that is en- save money by avoiding mi- that they are regulating, even ramped up their lobbying of dorsed by the World Health nor regulatory errors. to discuss the technical details senior politicians across the Organisation (WHO). On January 21, a week after of that regulation”. political spectrum, recently Howlin — who introduced the meeting, Howlin wrote to Howlin added: “Lobbying convincing Labour Party leader the Regulation of Lobbying Minister for Finance Pascal and meetings with officials Brendan Howlin to call on the Act in 2015 — received a brief- Donohoe. In his email, he is a normal part of any dem- government to meet them to ing note from his political di- pointed out that “while Labour ocratic political system. The discuss anti-smoking policies. rector on January 14, outlining is no supporter of that industry, whole point of the Regulation Last month, two giant cig- how the two companies felt I am bringing it to your atten- of Lobbying Act is to make arette-makers, Japan Tobacco “prejudiced” against by the tion in your capacity as head of sure those meetings are open and Imperial Brands, lobbied “blank” refusal of govern- the civil service, to ask wheth- and transparent, to prevent Howlin as part of their goal ment officials and ministers to er you think it is appropriate to page 2 SET IN STONE? Michael Murray and Ian Guider on CRH page 15 Pigsback sale to Crackdown on state English firm nets pensions nets €15 €25 million million for exchequer BY COLETTE SEXTON BY MICHAEL BRENNAN tained from the Department had lost their means-tested Last week’s sale of Irish POLITICAL EDITOR of Social Protection under pension due to the reviews. firm Pigsback.com to an the Freedom of Information “I think it’s wrong. There English travel group was Thousands of partners of Act show that up to 6,000 has been a hardening of the worth an estimated €25 state pensioners have had reviews were carried out last social welfare system under million. their pensions reduced or year on people getting partial this government,” he said. The deal is one of the cut off completely as part of pensions. The briefing documents largest transactions by a new crackdown which has The crackdown has brought state that “Revenue data” has any Irish e-commerce brought in €15 million. in €15.7 million so far, with been used to identify people firm so far this year. Social welfare inspectors what the department calls on partial pensions “whose Empathy Marketing, are targeting up to 66,000 ‘adult dependents’ having annual earnings exceed the which runs Pigsback. people – mainly women - their half-pensions reduced means limits”. com, was sold to Brit- who get a partial pension or cut off completely. O’Dea said the reviews ish-based online travel while their partner gets a full “The majority of savings were reducing the pensions deals company Secret state contributory pension. (75 per cent) arise where the of spouses and partners who Escapes Group. They are checking tax re- means of the adult dependent had savings of €30,000 or Empathy Marketing has cords, bank interest payments are deemed to be over the €40,000 in their bank ac- grown sales by more than and property registration da- income limit for payment,” counts. 200 per cent since 2016. tabases to see if these failed to the department documents “All the computer systems It had revenues of €5.7 declare any extra income in stated. are talking to each other. million two years ago, their original pension means Fianna Fáil social welfare There’s no element of dis- with operating profits of test. spokesman Willie O’Dea said cretion,” he said. €1 million. Briefing documents ob- he had dealt with people who to page 2 Full story: page 3 Vol. 32. No. 06 TOM McGURK: Could Irish America save the backstop? page 18 The Sunday Business Post 2 News February 10, 2019 In this MAGAZINE PROPERTY PLUS week’s Dream home paper Pressure cooker The truth about keeping an Irish in Monkstown restaurant in business pages 10-14 This Victorian residence might tempt one to go out and buy a lottery ticket Cover story NEWS SUNDAY POST PLUS INTERVIEW Liam Neeson Ken Mealy, president of the How Hollywood was horrified Royal College of Surgeons by a leading man’s outburst page 16 Profile, page 12 State auditor contradicts Who will blink first in Varadkar over claim on latest Brexit stand-off? Children’s Hospital costs l Chief procurement officer Paul struction to seek a derogation l Leo Varadkar’s together and does not want from normal state contract to be remembered like for- Quinn under scrutiny in debacle rules as it was such a large government mer British prime minister project. Ramsay McDonald. He split over spiralling costs for National “Members of the board is banking on his Labour party when he Children’s Hospital made two formal presen- Theresa May not went into a national govern- tations during the course ment with the Tories during of the development of their allowing Britain the Great Depression in 1931 BY HUGH O’CONNELL In the Dáil last week, procurement strategy, and to spiral into a and ended up being expelled POLITICAL Varadkar indicated that Quinn a number of meetings with from Labour. CORRESPONDENT would not have had respon- individual members of the no-deal Brexit. Green Party Belgian MEP sibility to report the matter to committee to discuss de- Philippe Lamberts said that The state’s auditor has cast Donohoe. tailed aspects of the strat- But with seven May and British Labour leader doubt over Taoiseach Leo “If somebody is on a board, egy and contract were also weeks to go, it’s Jeremy Corbyn were playing a Varadkar’s claim that a se- his or her fiduciary and legal held,” Quinn wrote, adding “mirror game” because they nior civil servant on the Na- responsibilities are to that that a derogation did not ap- a risky game - as were trying to keep their par- tional Children’s Hospital board and the correct line prove the strategy but mere- May could be ties united on Brexit. board could not have raised of accountability is from the ly acknowledged that the “Jeremy Corbyn is perform- concerns about cost overruns chairman of that board to the project required a different waiting out the ing a game that looks very like with Minister for Finance Pas- line minister, not individu- approach. the game of Theresa May. ‘I’m chal Donohoe. al board members acting on However, he did not dis- clock as well a Brexiteer, but I want Brexit Comptroller and Auditor their own part,” he said. close in the letter to PAC that to embarrass the Tories. I want General Seamus McCarthy Labour health spokesman he is also a member of the BY MICHAEL BRENNAN to keep the unity of my party confirmed last week his un- Alan Kelly said it was now NPHDB. POLITICAL EDITOR while dividing the Tories.’ And derstanding that a Depart- “quite obvious” from what the PAC chairman Seán Flem- that’s the exact mirror game ment of Finance circular, C&AG said that the Quinn was ing said in committee: “There The government is continu- of Theresa May,” he said. which obliges officials on subject to the circular. is a clear conflict of interest ing to rely on British prime Leo Varadkar greets Theresa May at Farmleigh House on Friday night Maxwells Lamberts, a member of the non-commercial state boards “So what the Taoiseach said between the two positions, minister Theresa May blinking European Parliament’s Brexit to report to the relevant Minis- in the Dáil is bogus and wrong, given the derogation, his be- before she pushes her country the government’s position af- the government’s hope is that ster, just blindly going about steering group, said this was ter “where a matter of serious and he needs to correct that,” ing a member of the board into a no-deal Brexit. ter Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s May will at least be forced to it. The more the government preventing any coalition of concern arises”, did apply in said Kelly. and his being on both sides Government sources say round of meetings last week postpone it by asking the EU ignore what the people are Conservative and Labour MPs the case of the National Pae- “Also, the Minister for of that debate. What I find there is no option but to with May in the state-owned to extend the Article 50 exit saying, the more frustrated from uniting on a soft Brexit. diatric Hospital Development Public Expenditure needs to more disturbing is that he did continue with the strategy of Farmleigh House in Dublin’s process.