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Landfill Fires & Contaminated Water Supplies – Join Some Dots ?

Posted by CJ Walsh

2011-02-23:  With the blanket media coverage of the upcoming Irish General Election, which will be held on Friday next, 25 February 2011 … the following 2 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Press Releases concerning the ongoing Kerdiffstown Landfill Fire Incident in County Kildare … which were issued in quick succession on Friday afternoon last, 18 February 2011 … may not have received adequate public attention …

1.  Friday 18th February 2011: Statement on Behalf of Co-Ordinating Group

Re:  Kerdiffstown Fire

Date released: Feb 18 2011, 3:12 PM

Active firefighting has been wound down as brigades undertake a phased withdrawal from the Kerdiffstown landfill site near Naas.  The fire, which flared up on 18 January 2011, was unprecedented in Ireland and it proved very challenging.  Initial assessments indicate that, by comparison with international experience, the time taken to suppress the fire was relatively short – given its nature and the environment in which it took place.  Fire brigades will maintain a precautionary watch on the site until the middle of next week.  The site remains a very dangerous area and people should not enter it for any reason.  The Environmental Protection Agency has increased security in the interests of public safety and to prevent further trespass in the area.

And …

2.  EPA to Develop Remediation Plan for Kerdiffstown Landfill, Naas, County Kildare.

Date released: Feb 18 2011, 3:26 PM

The EPA, HSE, Kildare County Council, Defence Forces and Gardaí have, for the past 27 days, been co-ordinating actions to deal with the fire and other environmental issues at Kerdiffstown Landfill, near Naas.  In particular, the EPA has been working closely with Kildare Fire Service, providing expert advice in fighting the serious fire at the Kerdiffstown landfill site, contracting in providers of cold gas injection equipment and providing air monitoring and analysis.  The EPA is exercising its powers under Section 56 of the Waste Management Act to secure the site and to start the longer-term process of remediation of the whole site.  Already the EPA has begun the following preliminary works:

  • removing stockpiles of fire-risk waste ;
  • providing 24-hour security personnel at the site for the long-term ;
  • establishing an on-site office ;
  • increased on-site monitoring and inspection ;
  • dealing with immediate Health & Safety issues on the site ;
  • removing landfill leachate.

As the plan for the remediation progresses, the EPA will be meeting with the local community on a regular basis in order to hear their views and update them on the remediation project.  Remediation works will be phased and the EPA will prioritise work that alleviates odour from the site in the short to medium term.  Funding for the short-term emergency works to date has been provided by the Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government.  Further funding for the remediation will be released on a phased basis.  The EPA has taken enforcement action against those involved in the operation of the Kerdiffstown site, including three High Court cases.  High Court orders are in place preventing the deposit of any further waste onto the Kerdiffstown site.  The EPA will use its powers under the Waste Management Acts to seek recovery of all costs expended by the State during the remediation project.  The EPA is also seeking orders against directors of the companies who formerly operated the site in order to recover these costs.  A criminal investigation file relating to the previous operations at the site has been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A lot of words have been used in these press releases … but the amount of actual information which has been communicated to the public is Sweet FA !   And … please note well … there is no statement that the Landfill Fire has been extinguished.

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PROTECTION OF FIREFIGHTERS & KERDIFFSTOWN LOCAL COMMUNITY

We consider that it is very important for Firefighters and Members of the Kerdiffstown Local Community, i.e. anybody who lives within 2 Km of the Landfill Site, to have sufficient information about Landfill Fires … in order to ask some pertinent questions about this fire incident.

I hate to say this … but, languishing on an important page of the FireOx International WebSite for many years … http://www.sustainable-design.ie/fire/proenv.htm … unloved (?!?) … has been this 2002 United States Report …

U.S. Fire Administration – Federal Emergency Management Agency

May 2002 / FA-225

LANDFILL FIRES – Their Magnitude, Characteristics, and Mitigation

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (583 kb)

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As you read the document … pinch yourself hard, and try to remember that the Regulatory Control over Landfill Sites in Ireland has been LITE-LITE-LITE !!!   … That there has been much illegal dumping all over the country !!   … AND … That some Local Authorities have even forgotten where old, inactive Landfill Sites are located … a case I myself encountered in Clontarf, within the functional area of what was then known as Dublin Corporation !

Black and white drawing ... Figure 1 in the 2002 U.S. FEMA Landfill Fires Report above ... showing the components of a Regulated Landfill Site, courtesy of the California Waste Management Board. How many Landfill Sites in Ireland, or in Europe for that matter, have all ... or any ... of the components illustrated above ? Click to enlarge.
Black and white drawing ... Figure 1 in the 2002 U.S. FEMA Landfill Fires Report above ... showing the components of a Regulated Landfill Site, courtesy of the California Waste Management Board. How many Landfill Sites in Ireland, or in Europe for that matter, have all ... or any ... of the components illustrated above ? Click to enlarge.

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LANDFILL EMISSIONS – CLIMATE CHANGE & FIRE SAFETY ISSUES !

Extract from the 2002 U.S. Report … Page 8 …

Landfill emissions are the result of the decomposition of organic materials in the landfill (including yard waste, household waste, food waste, and paper).  Because of the nature of the construction of landfills, this decomposition is anaerobic and results in the production of large quantities of Methane (which is highly flammable) and Carbon Dioxide.  In fact, landfills are the largest source of methane emissions in the United States, accounting for 35% of methane emissions in 1999.  MSW (municipal solid waste) landfills generate about 93% of U.S. landfill emissions; industrial landfills account for the remaining emissions.  Methane emissions from landfills are affected by site-specific factors such as waste composition, available moisture, and landfill size.  Approximately 28% of the methane generated in landfills in 1999 was recovered.  The remainder of landfill-generated methane was dispersed in the air.

Approximately 50% of gas emitted from landfills is methane; carbon dioxide accounts for about 45 percent, and the remainder is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and other gases.  Both Methane and Carbon Dioxide are Greenhouse Gases (GHG’s) that pose environmental problems.  Of the two gases, methane is far more potent than carbon dioxide.

[Media reports have also stated that Carbon Dioxide was used during attempts to suppress the Kerdiffstown Landfill Fire in County Kildare !?!]

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HEALTH EFFECTS OF LANDFILL FIRES !

Extract from the 2002 U.S. Report … Pages 14 & 15 …

In addition to the burn and explosion hazards posed by landfill fires, smoke and other by-products of landfill fires also present a health risk to firefighters and others exposed to them.  Smoke from landfill fires generally contains Particulate Matter (the products of incomplete combustion of the fuel source), which can aggravate pre-existing pulmonary conditions or cause respiratory distress.  As with all fires, those in landfills produce toxic smoke and gases.  The danger and level of toxicity of these gases depend on the length of exposure one has to them and on the type of material that is burning.

Underground fires can result in CO (Carbon Monoxide) levels in excess of 50,000 ppm (parts per million) – the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit for CO is 50 ppm.  OSHA standards prohibit worker exposure to more than 50 parts of the gas per million parts of air averaged during an 8-hour time period.  Carbon Monoxide is harmful when breathed because it displaces oxygen in the blood and deprives the heart, brain, and other vital organs of oxygen, which can cause permanent damage or death.

Another serious concern in landfill fires is the emission of Dioxins.  Accidental fires at landfills and the uncontrolled burning of residential waste are considered the largest sources of dioxin emissions in the United States.  The term ‘dioxins’ refers to a group of chemical compounds with similar chemical and biological characteristics that are released into the air during the combustion process.  Dioxins are also naturally occurring and are present throughout the environment.  However, exposure to high levels of dioxins has been linked to cancer, liver damage, skin rashes, and reproductive and developmental disorders.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF LANDFILL FIRES !

Extract from the 2002 U.S. Report … Pages 16 & 17 …

The smoke and run-off from landfill fires can be dangerous to those living in the area and to the environment.  It is important that air and water quality issues be addressed early in a fire suppression operation to prevent contamination as much as possible.  As mentioned earlier, water used to suppress a landfill fire can overwhelm a facility’s leachate collection system, if one exists (older facilities may have been constructed prior to regulations requiring leachate collection systems).

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FIRE & LANDFILL CONTENTS !

Extract from the 2002 U.S. Report … Page 17 …

Fires occurring in landfills where hazardous wastes are buried can be particularly difficult.  In past years, illegal dumping of hazardous and toxic materials in landfills and other dumping sites was relatively common.  When a fire occurs and rescue workers have wrong or misleading information about the buried contents (e.g., illegal or unknown toxic or radioactive wastes), the fire suppression operation can be extremely dangerous.

Although not a landfill fire, the Wade Dump Fire in February 1978 clearly illustrates the dangers posed by fires involving unknown hazardous materials.  Firefighters responded to a suspected tyre fire at an abandoned rubber shredding plant on the Delaware River outside of Philadelphia.  They were unaware that the property’s owner and namesake, Melvin Wade, had transformed the plant into one of the most toxic hazardous waste dumpsites in U.S. history.  By the night of the fire, more than 3 million gallons of cyanide, benzene, toluene, and other chemicals were stored on the site – plus thousands of junk tyres.  The burning chemicals produced multi-coloured smoke and noxious fumes, which alerted firefighters to the unusual nature of the fire they were fighting.  Intensified by chemicals and other fuels, the fire raged for hours.  Drums of chemicals exploded, injuring firefighters and even damaging fire trucks.  As the night progressed, firefighters and other emergency workers noticed that the chemicals were dissolving their protective gear and making it difficult for them to breathe; more than 40 firefighters were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment.  Over the past 20 or more years, dozens of those who were present at the Wade Dump fire have become ill, and many have died from cancers and other diseases.  Melvin Wade and others responsible for creating the toxic site were found criminally responsible for their actions.

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JOINING SOME DOTS – CONTAMINATED PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES IN IRELAND

On Thursday, 17 February 2011 … the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the following report … with an accompanying, ‘spinned’ press release …

Environmental Protection Agency – Ireland

2011-02-17

The Provision & Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland – A Report for the Years 2008-2009

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (2.77 Mb)

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Once again … pinch yourself hard, and try to remember that the Regulatory Control over Public Water Supplies in Ireland has been LITE-LITE-LITE !!!   Our Public Water Supplies are not in good shape … to say the least.  However, the management and control of the country’s landfill sites – legal, illegal and no longer known – IS a relevant and related issue to the contamination of our public water supplies … not the only issue.

Now, I don’t know about you … but I certainly am not happy about either the accuracy, or the reliability, of the recent EPA Report on Ireland’s Public Water Supplies !

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END

Climate Change ?#$#? … 2007 SDI Letter to John Gormley !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2011-01-29:  Some people say that a week is a long time in politics … but, here in Ireland, during the last two weeks … every single day feels like a year !   To the uninformed outside observer, this may have all the appearance of being an elaborate circus … but, we like our politics to be complex, interesting and very frothy.

Briefly … the Irish Green Party has recently removed itself, awkwardly, from the Ruling Coalition Government in this country … and the Green Party Agenda has gone up in smoke … definitely a Climate Changing Greenhouse Gas !   Mr. John Gormley T.D., Leader of the Green Party, has therefore resigned as Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government … and his Green Party departmental colleague, Mr. Ciarán Cuffe T.D., Minister of State with special responsibility for Sustainable Transport, Horticulture, Planning and Heritage at the Departments of the Environment, Transport and Agriculture has also resigned.

With all of Ireland’s current economic woes … this decision by the Green Party has ensured that ‘Climate Change’ is fast dropping off the list of national priorities.

However, as a result of these political shenanigans … the word ‘Green’ has received a severe hammering and will induce a nasty taste in the mouths of many Irish Voters during the next few weeks which lead up to a General Election.  To be honest, I heartily cheer this development … since ‘GREEN’-ness, i.e. a sole and blinkered consideration for the Environmental Aspects of Sustainability is a ‘pre-version’ (fans of the film: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ will understand what I mean) of Sustainable Human & Social Development.  It is also a peculiar quirk of ‘greens’ that they love the environment … but hate people !

As a prelude to what I will say about the proposed enabling legislation for climate change action in Ireland … the 2010 Climate Change Response Bill … I thought that it would be interesting to reveal the contents of a submission I made to Mr. John Gormley back in late 2007.  Concerning his reaction … I wondered how it was possible for anybody to write such a long letter in reply, and say nothing.

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Mr. John Gormley T.D.,                                                                                           2007-12-18.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government,

Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government (DEHLG),

Custom House – Dublin 1.

Re:  Your Meeting with IIEA on Friday, 7th December 2007

Dear Minister,

At the Meeting with the Institute of International & European Affairs (IIEA), in North Great George’s Street, I raised two points directly with you:

     i)   The Great Difference between ‘Real’ Building Energy Performance and Claimed ‘Theoretical’ Performance.   In a context where the mandatory use of long wave infra-red thermal imagery will not be introduced in the Revised Technical Guidance Document L of the Building Regulations, due to be issued shortly, and there will continue to be No Effective System of Building Control anywhere in the country … no relationship exists between Claimed ‘Theoretical’ Performance and ‘Real’ Performance, such is the poor quality of construction on Irish Building Sites.  The Energy Numbers which continue to be produced by Sustainable Energy Ireland are – almost – pure fantasy.

     ii)  Sourcing of Climate Change Research & Models for Necessary Institutional Reform Must Extend Beyond Britain.   The following is taken from the Irish National Climate Change Strategy 2007-2012 (page 45) …

‘ Ireland has also engaged in an exchange of information on impacts and adaptation activities through the British-Irish Council. This initiative has focused on exchanging data on research projects which have improved the understanding of climate change impacts at a local level.’

I suggested to you that if this were, actually, to be the approach to Research in Ireland … we will be in serious trouble.  Furthermore, far too many people in important organizations (including the IIEA) are only looking across the water for Models of Necessary Institutional Reform.  We must also, in Ireland, look to the rest of Europe and Japan to find the Best Research and the Most Effective Institutional Models.

Please see the enclosed World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Summary Report: ‘Energy Efficiency in Buildings – Business Realities & Opportunities’ (October 2007), which was presented at an important Paris Conference at the beginning of November, 2007.

This Report looks at what can be achieved in Europe and many other parts of the world – today – using currently available building technologies and systems … IF ‘real’ implementation is taken seriously.  Barriers to progress and costs have also been examined.

In the final analysis, however, a properly resourced Indigenous Research Capability, focused on Irish Conditions and Needs, is vitally necessary to drive ‘Real’ Performance and Innovation in this country.

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Post-Bali Leadership from Ireland (and DEHLG !)

A Kyoto II Instrument will be agreed and ratified before the end of 2012.  The 1997 UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol must now be seen, therefore, as just the beginning of a long-term process which will last until the end of the century.  Some Necessary Direction and a large pinch of Ethical Leadership are urgently required to properly re-position Ireland in this Process.

The following Post-Bali Target Scenario for Ireland is presented for your consideration:

  • Ireland should set 1990 as the Benchmark/Base Year for All Kyoto Greenhouse Gases ;
  • Statements of Measurement and Calculation Uncertainty should be fully transparent (nationally, and at EU level), and made at every stage of Ireland’s Kyoto Compliance ;
  • The EU’s Objective of a 30% Reduction in Greenhouse Gases by 2020, compared to 1990, is the Relevant Short Term Target (refer to Paragraph 31 of the German Presidency Conclusions from the E.U. Council’s Brussels Summit on 8th and 9th March 2007) ;
  • As our ‘Real’ Performance, under Kyoto I, continues to be so weak and disingenuous … we should not expect to receive as generous an intra-EU burden sharing arrangement as before.  Instead, Ireland should adopt the 2020 National Target of a similar 30% Reduction in Greenhouse Gases, compared to 1990 ;
  • Our Contingency Target for 2020 should be a 33% Reduction in Greenhouse Gases, compared to 1990.  When considering ‘real’ performance in any field of human endeavour, it is usual to include a safety factor in any calculations …. in this case, 3% ;
  • Ireland’s Recourse to the Use of Carbon Sinks and Kyoto Mechanisms in meeting the 2020 Contingency Target should be restricted to 1/4 of ‘Real’ Performance …
    • ‘Real’ Performance (no sinks/mechanisms) – minimum 24% Reduction in Greenhouse Gases by 2020, compared to 1990 ;
    • Use of Carbon Sinks and Kyoto Mechanisms – 9% Reduction in Greenhouse Gases by 2020, compared to 1990 (this figure includes the contingency 3%) ;   and
    • As the Construction Sector (when properly identified) should share more of the national burden than, for example, Agriculture …. its Target should be a 40% Reduction in Greenhouse Gases by 2020, compared to 1990.  Remember the range of reductions which were initially proposed at Bali …. 25-40% ?
  • Part 1 of SDI’s Submission for the Irish Construction Sector (IIEA Climate Change Project, Sectors Sub-Group – June 2007) stressed the great need to properly restore the Construction Sector’s Infrastructure.  Otherwise, this Sector will not be able, in reality, to reach any Energy Performance Targets … low or high.  Of course, what will eventually appear on paper, or as a computer print-out, is an entirely different matter !

However, having been able to access information about the recent WBCSD Research Project, and using it as a valid substantiation … it then became possible to deal with the issue of Energy Performance Targets for All Buildings (new, existing and those of historical, architectural and cultural importance) more aggressively.

Enclosed, please also find Part 2 of SDI’s Submission for the Construction Sector (IIEA Climate Change Project, Sectors Sub-Group – November 2007).

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Ireland’s Climate Change Strategy ?

     1.  Ireland’s Current ‘Real’ Situation with Regard to Kyoto (I) Compliance should be clearly understood by the Irish Public.  Using the recently issued European Environment Agency (EEA) Report 5/2007: ‘Greenhouse Gas Emission Trends & Projections in Europe 2007 – Tracking Progress Towards Kyoto Targets’, we have extracted just a few snippets of interesting information (enclosed) …

  • Instead of 1990, Ireland has chosen 1995 as the Base Year for HFC’s, PFC’s & SF6 ;
  • Ireland’s Per Capita greenhouse gas emissions are nearly the worst in the EU-27 ;
  • Ireland’s Per GDP greenhouse gas emissions are far too high ;
  • Ireland’s ‘Real’ Distance-To-Target (no sinks/mechanisms) is very bad.

Ireland is still grimly grasping on to a ‘Business as Usual’ Approach.  This is actually being reinforced by the relevant Institutions of the State, who insist on merely Playing with Numbers … and then publishing Cosmetic Public Relations Brochures for consumption in Ireland and, unfortunately, on the wider European and International Stages.

     2.  The following National Policy/Strategy Documents & Legislation should directly relate to one other, and their implementation should be tightly co-ordinated …

  • National Sustainable Development Strategy ;
  • National Climate Change Strategy ;
  • National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy ;
  • National Spatial Strategy ;
  • National Development Plan ;
  • National Public Procurement Law.

Not only have some of the above not yet even been drafted, but others are unacceptably inadequate, outdated and/or fundamentally flawed.  And the synergies which would normally accrue from co-ordinated implementation are being lost.

     3.  The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has identified Buildings as one of the five main users of energy where ‘megatrends’ are needed to transform global energy efficiency in the immediate short term, and so meet the daunting challenge of Climate Change Adaptation.  They account for 40% of primary energy (primary energy includes the energy required to generate, transmit and distribute electricity, as well as energy directly consumed on site) in most developed countries, and consumption is rising.

Nothing less than a Complete Cultural Shift will be necessary throughout this Sector, beginning with all research and design disciplines and extending right across to any person who works on a construction site or has any part to play in managing, maintaining or servicing a building.

Yet, Irish Construction is not presented as a Coherent Sector anywhere in National or European Greenhouse Gas Databases.

Separate Strategies are urgently required to greatly improve the energy performance of:

  • Existing Buildings … onto which many energy efficiency measures can be successfully grafted, but they will not be cheap ;
  • Buildings of Historical, Architectural or Cultural Importance … the integrity of which must be protected ;   and
  • New Buildings, which must therefore carry the major burden.

     4.  Raising the (General) Awareness of Irish Society regarding Climate Change and Mobilizing People and Organizations for (Effective) Action are two entirely different concepts.  Which concept is informing Strategy Development within the DEHLG ?

A €15 m. Marketing Campaign, spread over 4-5 Years and including the ‘Change’ WebSite (!?!?), will not mobilize anyone … to do anything.

     5.  Your proposals concerning Necessary Building Energy Efficiency Improvements to be included in the Revised Technical Guidance Document L are inadequate.  Part L should be applicable to ALL New Buildings.

It has also been insufficiently emphasized in public discussions/consultations concerning this issue that any proposed Building Energy Efficiency Improvements must take place in a context of stringent control during construction (by a sufficient number of competent Local Authority Building Controllers and/or Independent Technical Controllers) and rigorous post-construction energy performance monitoring (using long wave infra-red thermal imagery, in conjunction with building external fabric air seepage tests).  Follow-up observation of post-occupation building energy performance will also be required.

This is the one – and only – means of …

  • tweaking Computer Software Tools so as to produce more realistic outputs ;   and
  • obtaining reliable construction-related energy performance data and statistics.

Please Note Well:  Without suitable references to the use of long wave infra-red thermal imagery (essential, if working at ambient temperatures – short wave, if working at high temperatures) in Section 5, the Revised TGD L will be absolutely meaningless !!

Because of wasteful patterns of building management and/or use – even in the most energy efficient building – we would also stress that far more attention should be paid to the concept of Intelligent Energy Efficiency Management.

     6.  We strongly urge you, in accordance with the 2007 Bali Action Plan, to rapidly advance development of the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, and to ensure that it is properly implemented.

     7.  We call for the creation of an adequately resourced Sustainable Development Commission with the necessary legal mandate, independence and technical expertise to monitor – in an integrated, continual and proactive manner – Ireland’s mitigation and adaptation performance in relation to the adverse effects of climate change.  We also call for a New Social Partnership for Sustainable Development & Climate Change Adaptation.  Addressing Climate Change must be considered an integral element of Sustainable Development Policies.

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At Sustainable Design International … we continue to find, in everyday practice, that the most challenging barriers to Policy Implementation are Institutional – lack of proper horizontal policy integration in Public Authorities, and antiquated approaches to management in Private Organizations.  At every level, the concept of Sustainable Human & Social Development is poorly understood.

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact me at your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

C.J. Walsh,  etc., etc.

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END

European Union Economic Governance – Too Late For Dithering !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2010-12-22:  November & December 2010 … when the shit really started to hit the international economic fan ! … there has been an excess of hysterical nonsense in the Irish Media concerning growing European Union (EU) Economic Governance … and a perceived erosion of Irish National Sovereignty.  How sad ?!?

Economic Environment … the intricate web of real and virtual human commercial activity – operating at micro and macro-economic levels – which facilitates, supports, but sometimes hampers or disrupts, human interaction in the Social Environment.

Social Environment … the complex network of real and virtual human interaction – at a communal or larger group level – which operates for reasons of tradition, culture, business, pleasure, information exchange, institutional organization, legal procedure, governance, human betterment, social progress and spiritual enlightenment, etc.

However, let me sketch out an altogether different and much more positive picture !

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Thesis – My Argument

[During 2009, I first raised this issue in meetings of the IIEA (Institute of International & European Affairs) Economists’ Group, in Dublin.]

Towards the end of 2010 … we can now see that Inter-Governmental Economic Governance in the European Union has failed … miserably.  This has not only destabilized the EuroZone … but the entire European Union, itself, as a political entity … and will continue to do so … until Economic Governance is brought much closer to, and fully within, the Community Method … which is a lengthy and complex process.

Back in 2009, however, when the Financial Markets were not in such a mad frenzy … it would have been natural to imagine that an interim stage in this process would most probably be to adopt an Open Method of Co-Ordination.  This is no longer an option … being too little, too late, to calm the Markets.

Throughout this process of reform, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the National Central Banks can, and must, retain their independence … as legally mandated in European Union Primary Legislation, i.e. the Treaties.

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Three Concerns I have had for some time …

–  Economists don’t know the Community Method from the Rhythm Method, and they are ill-equipped to deal with matters of Mainstream European Union Institutional Reform ;

–  The use of Economic Performance Indicators in the EU Stability & Growth Pact is simplistic and crude … and, therefore, very problematic ;

–  Economic Performance Indicators must be improved … qualitatively … and be mainstreamed in considerations, and the implementation, of Sustainable Human & Social Development … as legally mandated in the EU Treaties.

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Mr. Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic & Monetary Affairs recently delivered a speech at the Institute of International & European Affairs, in Dublin …

Mr. Olli Rehn, European Commissioner

9 November 2010

Reinforcing EU Economic Governance: Relevance for Ireland

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (39kb)

However … instead of trying to desperately backfill the holes and gaps in the current, failed Inter-Governmental Method of Economic Governance in the European Union … Commissioner Rehn should be clearly identifying the proper target as the Community Method of Economic Governance … and plotting an appropriate course to reach that target … as soon as practicable !

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This is a useful background document … and includes a lot of information about the EU Stability & Growth Pact …

European Commission & General Secretariat of the EU Council

June 2007

EU Economic & Monetary Union – Legal & Political Texts

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (2.66 Mb)

Since Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 … after 10 years of accession negotiations ! … an ‘informed’ view of European Integration has always been that the different Countries are pooling their national sovereignty, in an expanding range of specific areas, for the greater benefit of all their citizens.  This has certainly been the experience of Ireland.  And … let us also not forget that Irish Politicians and Senior Civil Servants have participated directly – at all stages – in the development of the EMU Legal & Political Texts listed.  There is no such thing as a Domineering ‘Brussels’ Big Brother !

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This is the most recent update of the EuroZone’s Economic Performance Indicators …

European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic & Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN)

2 December 2010

Key Economic Indicators for the Euro Area

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (360kb)

It is now widely acknowledged that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is neither a reliable nor an adequate indicator of Sustainable Human & Social Development.  But … that is another story … for another day !

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Community & Inter-Governmental Methods of Governance

The Community Method is the expression used for the most common and effective operating and decision-making mode of institutions in the European Union.  It proceeds from an integration logic, with due respect for the subsidiarity principle … and has the following salient features:

  • European Commission monopoly of the Right of Initiative, with a strong monitoring role in implementation ;
  • should consensus not be achieved, widespread use of Qualified Majority Voting in the Council of the European Union ;
  • an active, participatory role for the European Parliament ;
  • uniform interpretation of EU Law by the Court of Justice.

In contrast to the … Inter-Governmental Method … which proceeds from an inter-governmental logic of co-operation between EU Member States … to a large extent outside the institutional framework of the European Union … and has the following salient features:

  • the European Commission’s Right of Initiative is shared with the Member States or confined to specific areas of activity … with little, if any, monitoring role for the Commission in implementation ;
  • the Council of the European Union generally acts unanimously … and unilaterally ;
  • the European Parliament has merely a consultative role ;
  • the Court of Justice plays only a minor role.

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Open Method of Co-Ordination

The Open Method of Co-Ordination (OMC) developed as an instrument of the 2000 Lisbon Strategy, and provided a new framework for co-operation between the EU Member States, whose national policies could thus be directed towards certain common objectives.

Under this method of governance, the Member States are evaluated by one another (peer pressure), with the European Commission’s role being limited to ‘lite’ surveillance.  The European Parliament and the Court of Justice play virtually no part in the OMC process.

The Open Method of Co-Ordination takes place in policy areas which fall within the competence of the Member States … such as employment, social protection, social inclusion, education, youth and training.

It is based principally on:

  • jointly identifying and defining objectives to be achieved (adopted by the Council of the European Union) ;
  • jointly established measuring instruments (statistics, indicators, guidelines) ;
  • benchmarking, i.e. comparison of the Member States’ performance and exchange of best practices (oversight by the European Commission).

Depending on the areas concerned, the OMC involves so-called ‘Soft Law’ Measures which are binding on the Member States to varying degrees but which never take the form of ‘Hard Law’ Directives, Regulations or Decisions.  Thus, in the context of the Lisbon Strategy, the OMC required the Member States to draw up national reform plans and to submit them to the European Commission.

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Colour photograph showing the last resting place, in Arbour Hill Cemetery Dublin, for many - not all - Executed Leaders of the 1916 Revolution. The Memorial was designed by G. McNicholl. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-10-24. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing the last resting place, in Arbour Hill Cemetery Dublin, for many – not all – Executed Leaders of the 1916 Revolution. The Memorial was designed by G. McNicholl. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-10-24. Click to enlarge.

Ireland’s National Sovereignty in 2010/2011 ?

On a beautiful sunny day, this past autumn … I again visited Arbour Hill Cemetery in Dublin … the last resting place for many Executed Leaders of the 1916 Revolution … an event which finally initiated an irrevocable process of terminating a prolonged period of barbaric external imperial domination and cultural cleansing of the indigenous population …

Colour photograph showing, in the background, a latin cross and the Irish language version of the 1916 Proclamation of Independence inscribed on the stone wall, with the simple grass-covered graves of Executed Leaders in the foreground. Detail of the 1916 Revolution Memorial in Arbour Hill Cemetery, Dublin. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-10-24. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing, in the background, a latin cross and the Irish language version of the 1916 Proclamation of Independence inscribed on the stone wall, with the simple grass-covered graves of Executed Leaders in the foreground. Detail of the 1916 Revolution Memorial in Arbour Hill Cemetery, Dublin. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-10-24. Click to enlarge.

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On the wall behind the graves … the 1916 Proclamation of Independence is inscribed in the Irish Language, and also in English …

Poblacht na hEíreann

THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC

TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN:  In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.

Having organized and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organization, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military organizations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory.

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.  The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people.  In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty:  six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms.  Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations.

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman.  The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine.  In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

Signed on Behalf of the Provisional Government,

THOMAS J. CLARKE,

SEAN Mac DIARMADA,          THOMAS Mac DONAGH,

P. H. PEARSE,          EAMONN CEANNT,

JAMES CONNOLLY,          JOSEPH PLUNKETT.

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As We Approach the 100th Anniversary of the 1916 Revolution … Ireland has failed to implement and foster the social values so eloquently elaborated in the 1916 Proclamation of Independence … widespread, deeply ingrained corruption infects our economic environment … and the institutions of national governance are dysfunctional and no longer ‘fit for purpose’ … while individuals within those institutions rise in rank according to their own natural level of incompetence.

Politically … Ireland has not yet properly matured as an Independent State.

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Ireland’s Relationship with the European Union … I am more than a little curious as to why Ireland is not associated with Declaration No.52, which is annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon …

52.  Declaration by the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Austria, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic on the symbols of the European Union

Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic declare that the flag with a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background, the anthem based on the ‘Ode to Joy’ from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, the motto ‘United in diversity’, the euro as the currency of the European Union and Europe Day on 9 May will for them continue as symbols to express the sense of community of the people in the European Union and their allegiance to it.

Yes … we have a lot to discuss before 2016 !

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Update:  2013-06-03 …

On Friday, 31 May 2013, at the Institute of International & European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin … I attended the third seminar in a series organized to mark Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January to June 2013) … the seventh such Presidency … and 40 years since Ireland officially joined the European Economic Community (EEC), on 1 January 1973 … after a long, long, long accession process …

‘Economic Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization and EU Integration – Economic, Legal and Political Perspectives’

[ For full information about this IIEA Economic Seminar:  www.iiea.com ]

Because the seminar was not only very interesting, but is directly relevant in the context of this post … and the remarks of Mr. Peter Sutherland, Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and the London School of Economics, and former Irish Attorney General, former European Commissioner and former Director-General of the World Trade Organization, caused quite a stir in the printed media on the following day … here is Paper 2 from Seminar Session I … which went to the heart of discussions on the day …

Prof. John W O’Hagan, Dept. of Economics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Shared Economic Sovereignty: Beneficial or Not, and Who Decides ?

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (635 Kb)

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Update:  2014-07-04 …

Economists exist and operate in a special bubble … in their own little isolated world of quasi-science and fantasy, where everything in ‘our’ society is seen merely as an input, or fuel, for economic development.  And when they talk about Sustainable Economic Growth … believe me, their notion of ‘sustainable’ is altogether different from our understanding of that word !

European Union Economic Governance

It should come as no surprise to learn, therefore, that economists are blissfully unaware that the EuroZone’s current directionless (and dysfunctional) economic governance is causing enormous instability and harm to the whole political entity that is the European Union …

EU Economic Governance & The European Semester - Who Does What and When, Every Year
Flow chart diagram, in colour, showing how it is proposed that The European Semester will operate … which EU Institution will do what, and at what stage every year.  Source: Council of the European Union.  Click to enlarge.

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This issue is too important for all of us … to be left to economists and national politicians, alone, to muddle through !

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END

‘Antilia’, The New Mumbai High-Rise Building – What A Mother !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2010-11-22 (2021-09-06):  It is difficult for any foreign news item, no matter how important, to penetrate the current economic media haze in Ireland and Europe … but latest reports from India put the casualty list after the Five-Storey Residential Building Collapse at Lalita Park in East Dilli’s Laxmi Nagar Area … which occurred on Monday evening (local time), 15 November 2010 … at 69 people dead, 82 injured, with perhaps as many as another 20 people still missing.

The Occupants of 38 Similar Neighbouring Properties have been told to immediately vacate the buildings by Dilli’s Municipal Authority.

Colour photograph showing the scene of the Five-Storey Residential Building Collapse at Lalita Park in East Dilli's Laxmi Nagar Area, which occurred on Monday evening (local time), 15 November 2010. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing the scene of the Five-Storey Residential Building Collapse at Lalita Park in East Dilli’s Laxmi Nagar Area, which occurred on Monday evening (local time), 15 November 2010.  Click to enlarge.

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Faulty Construction appears to have been the principal cause for this serious collapse, according to media reports.  It may also have been an extra storey illegally added to an original, weak building structure … and/or heavy water logging of the building’s basement from the nearby Yamuna River during recent storms.

Dilli … its local name … is a very old and large city, and is the Capital of India.  New Delhi refers to the relatively more recent British Imperial Quarter … the urban plan of which and its principal buildings were designed by the British Architect, Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944).

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Within India, today, there is a strong political desire to achieve ‘Developed Country’ Status by 2020.  However, in Developed Countries … Collapse Level Events (CLE’s) are completely unacceptable … witness the public reaction to the WTC Building Collapses on 9-11 in New York City.

The 2005 National Building Code of India … a copy of which is close at hand in my Dublin Office … is not mandatory.  It closely resembles the informal (i.e. not legal), but prescriptive, ‘Draft’, ‘Revised Draft’ and ‘Proposed’ Irish Building Regulations dating from the 1970’s and 1980’s … another Irish solution to an Irish problem !   The 2005 Indian Code has been drafted to deal with a large range of simple building types, their construction and related issues … certainly not any sort of Iconic, High-Rise Building of Innovative Design.  Anyway, the Code is still only at the initial stages of being adopted in India’s different States.  AND … there is not yet in place a National System of Local Building Control, or Independent Technical Control … never mind an ‘Effective’ System of Control !

In a lightly regulated European legislative environment … it may come as a surprise to find out that the level of non-compliance on building sites in France, for example, has been placed as high as 68%, according to a colleague from CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment) … the rate of non-compliance which was found by Energy Ireland (SEAI) on Irish building sites was 70%.

In India’s unregulated legislative environment … higher levels of non-compliance should be expected amongst indigenous building organizations.  AND … the percentage rate of non-compliance with foreign building organizations should be assumed to at least match those European figures quoted above.

There is a further complication in India and most of the rest of the developing world, however, because USA building design consultants will typically use one of the United States of America’s National Model Building Codes (including the International Building Code, which is also a U.S. National Model Building Code) … in preference to local building codes … whatever the local codes do, or do not, say.  We have a long experience of this approach in Ireland !   BUT … the USA Model Building Codes are not being adapted to suit local site conditions, building practices, safety factors, etc.  It sounds messy … and it is very messy !!

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A few quick words about  INDIA (Bhārata or Bharat, in Sanskrit) … a federal republic and a burgeoning country of extreme contrasts … which has a population of some 1,339,330,514 People (July 2021 estimated, USA CIA World Factbook).

Rapid economic development has driven India to prominence on the world stage … (refer to a current view on India’s Cyber Profile) … despite pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, extensive poverty and a startling degree of social inequity, environmental degradation, such as deforestation, soil erosion, overgrazing, desertification, air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions, water pollution from raw sewage and run-off of agricultural pesticides … and the widespread corruption which is a natural consequence following an extended period of harsh and abusive external imperial domination.  India became an independent country in 1947.

For the last few years, I have been travelling to this beautiful, complex land … from Chennai (Madras) and Bengaluru (Bangalore) in the south … to Dilli in the north.  Over 70 years before … my father, a native of Midleton in County Cork, was a teacher in Kolkata (Calcutta) and further north than Dilli.  He was trapped, there, from coming home during the 2nd World War (1939-1945).

For me, it has been a warm and rewarding experience to meet the people of India.

And … I am also very grateful for the hospitality shown by FSAI (Fire & Security Association of India).  Working together, we have successfully set a future direction for the FSAI’s National Fire Safety Agenda in India.

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Less recently in the news and, it seems, always for the wrong reasons … Mumbai (Bombay) … where of the approximately 14 Million (1.4 Crore, an Indian Unit of Measure) People living in this western city … capital of the State of Maharashtra, and the financial and entertainment capital of the country … an estimated 7,500,000 (75 Lakhs, an Indian Unit of Measure) People survive in its Slums.

Mumbai is also located in a Seismically Active Zone, due to the presence of 23 fault lines in the region …

Colour image showing the Seismic Zones on a Map of India. Taken from Indian Standard IS 1893 (Part 1) : 2002. Click to enlarge.
Colour image showing the Seismic Zones on a Map of India.  Taken from Indian Standard IS 1893 (Part 1) : 2002.  Click to enlarge.

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During past years, a pattern of extraordinarily violent ‘Hive-Attacks’ have been carried out in Mumbai, with the aim of causing widespread terror amongst the general population and disrupting the city’s important Social & Economic Environments.  The attacks have involved the strategic targeting of Built Environment Places of Public Resort, Iconic Buildings, High-Rise Buildings, Buildings having a Critical Function, Transport Infrastructure and Service Utilities:

  • On 12 March 1993 … a series of 13 co-ordinated bombings … up until that date, the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history … beginning at the Stock Exchange Building … resulted in 257 deaths and over 700 injuries.
  • On 11 July 2006 … 209 people were killed and over 700 injured when seven bombs exploded on the city’s commuter trains.
  • Commencing on 26 November 2008, and lasting for three days … a series of ten co-ordinated attacks resulted in 175 deaths, 308 injuries, and severe damage to a number of luxury hotels and historical landmarks.

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Colour photograph showing 'Antilia' - the recently occupied Private, Iconic, High-Rise Mansion of Innovative Design belonging to Shri Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai. Click to enlarge.
Colour photograph showing ‘Antilia’ – the recently occupied Private, Iconic, High-Rise Mansion of Innovative Design belonging to Shri Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai.  Click to enlarge.

How strange it is, then, in this particular city … that at the end of October 2010 … after seven years of construction … an Indian businessman, Shri Mukesh Ambani, and his family … should choose to occupy their own 27 floor/173 metre tall Private Mansion … an Iconic, High-Rise Building of Innovative Design … within the near-sight of millions of slum dwellers !   The building is called ‘Antilia’ … the name of a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean, lying to the west of Portugal ?!?

OK … Let’s Get the Easy Bits Over First …

     1.  Architecturally …  and somebody, somewhere needs to say this … ‘Antilia’ is a mother of an ugly building.  There is an old joke about a committee starting out to design a horse, and ending up with a camel.  In this case, a group of people started to design an impressive building, and ended up with a spotty rhinoceros !

     2.  From the point of view of Sustainable Human & Social Development …  consider the resources used in the design, construction and operation of this mother … an architectural phallic symbol of obscene opulence and cheap looking ‘bling-bling’ … in close proximity to extensive and deep-rooted slum poverty.  It may be ‘Green'(?) … BUT … this building is certainly Anti-Sustainable !   Is it any wonder that a Class Action has recently been taken against the U.S. Green Building Council and its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Building Rating System in the U.S. Courts ?

The Difficult Issues …

     3.  Structural Resilience …  I would really like to be assured, by a person competent to do so, that ‘Antilia’ has actually been designed to withstand “a magnitude-8 earthquake” (according to local media reports), i.e. no significant damage will occur to the structure or fabric of the building.

AND … that ‘Antilia’ has been designed to properly resist disproportionate damage in the event that any “military grade explosions” (according to local media reports) happen in the building, i.e. no significant damage will occur to the building’s structure.

But … why only “military grade explosions” ?   If an ‘incident’ does take place in the building, it will not be the poorly equipped Indian Army who will be placing the ‘ordinary’ explosives … and the Army will not have the required expertise to place the explosives in the most vulnerable part of the structure.

Never assume that the people who plan these sorts of ‘incidents’ are anything other than highly motivated, intelligent and technically competent !

     4.  Fire Protection & Safety …  this requires much repetition … but the 2005 National Building Code of India cannot deal adequately with this type of building … an Iconic, High-Rise Building of Innovative Design.  AND, most obviously … the 2005 Indian Code does not incorporate any of the important Recommendations contained in the 2005 & 2008 NIST(USA) Reports on the 9-11 WTC Buildings 1,2 & 7 Collapses.  I have suggested that this be done, with urgency, during an upcoming revision to the Code … but there is resistance !

WTC 9-11 in New York City exposed a catastrophic failure … at all levels … in all of OUR common practices and procedures (architectural, engineering, first emergency response, regulatory, legislative, etc., etc) … used to design, construct and operate buildings generally !

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So … what does ‘Antilia’ … say about the Man … the Institutions of Governance and State Administration within Maharashtra … and India generally … at this time ???

Has this Man been well served by His Advisors … technical and otherwise ????

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END

New SDI Report on Climate Change Adaptation – Comments ?

Posted by CJ Walsh

This is the HomePage of my Technical Blog … but on a separate WebPage (see the toolbar above), I have been slowly building content, with links to related sources of information, on the subject of a CIB Working Commission 108 International Climate Change Project, which is about to enter its final important stage.

When published in the spring/early summer of next year … 2011 … the CIB W108 Report: ‘Sustainable Climate Change Adaptation in the Built Environment’ will comprise 2 Parts:

           I  – International Synthesis on Sustainable Climate Change Adaptation.

          II  – National Perspectives on Sustainable Climate Change Adaptation.

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Today, 18 November 2010 … I uploaded onto that separate WebPage the National Report for ‘IRELAND’, which will appear in Part II of the CIB Publication.  I am the person who drafted this report … and it has not been an easy task !   You will see that much attention is paid to institutional and implementation issues.

I now invite comments on the National Report … any comments … from those with a particular interest in the subject … and from the general public.

Comments should arrive here no later than Monday, 20th December 2010 … pretty please !

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Before commenting upon the National Report, however, it would be useful if you also took a glance at the following three relevant documents …

  • Ireland’s 5th National Communication (NC5) under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dated 3 March 2010 ;
  • UNFCCC In-Depth Review of Ireland’s 5th National Communication (NC5), dated 2 November 2010 ;
  • EU WHITE PAPER – Adapting to Climate Change: Towards a European Framework for Action … European Commission Communication COM(2009) 147 final, dated 1 April 2009.

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2009 EU White Paper – ‘Introduction’ (Page 3, first three paragraphs)

Climate change increases land and sea temperatures and alters precipitation quantity and patterns, resulting in the increase of global average sea level, risks of coastal erosion and an expected increase in the severity of weather-related natural disasters.  Changing water levels, temperatures and flow will in turn affect food supply, health, industry, and transport and ecosystem integrity.  Climate change will lead to significant economic and social impacts with some regions and sectors likely to bear greater adverse affects.  Certain sections of society (older people, people with activity limitations, low-income households) are also expected to suffer more.

Addressing climate change requires two types of response.  Firstly, and importantly, we must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), i.e. take mitigation action … and secondly, we must take adaptation action to deal with the unavoidable impacts.  The EU’s recently agreed climate change legislation puts in place the concrete measures to reach the EU’s commitment to reduce emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 and is capable of being amended to deliver a 30% reduction if agreed as part of an international agreement in which other developed countries agree to comparable reductions and appropriate contributions by economically more advanced developing countries based on their responsibilities and capabilities.  However, even if the world succeeds in limiting and then reducing GHG emissions, our planet will take time to recover from the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.  Thus, we will be faced with the impact of climate change for at least the next 50 years.  We need therefore to take measures to adapt.

Adaptation is already taking place but in a piecemeal manner.  A more strategic approach is needed to ensure that timely and effective adaptation measures are taken, ensuring coherency across different sectors and levels of governance.

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2009 EU White Paper – The Proposed EU Framework: Objectives & Action (Page 7, #3)

The Objective of the EU’s Adaptation Framework is to improve the EU’s resilience to deal with the impact of climate change.  The framework will respect the principle of subsidiarity and support overarching EU objectives on sustainable development.

The EU’s framework adopts a phased approach.  The intention is that phase 1 (2009-2012) will lay the groundwork for preparing a comprehensive EU Adaptation Strategy to be implemented during phase 2, commencing in 2013.

Phase 1 (2009-2012) will focus on four pillars of action:

1)    building a solid knowledge base on the impact and consequences of climate change for the EU ;

2)    integrating adaptation into EU key policy areas ;

3)    employing a combination of policy instruments (market-based instruments, guidelines, public-private partnerships) to ensure effective delivery of adaptation ;    and

4)    stepping up international co-operation on adaptation.

For phase 1 to be a success … the EU, national, regional and local authorities must co-operate closely.

The proposals set out in this paper cover actions to be taken in the first phase and are without prejudice to the future structure of the EU budget and to the current and future multi-annual financial framework.

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IRELAND – Part II National Report for CIB W108 Climate Change Project

In the spring of 2007, the Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government (DEHLG) – Ireland’s statutory Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) – published the ‘National Climate Change Strategy 2007-2012’.  This document can be accessed and downloaded at … http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Atmosphere/ClimateChange/   It is of concern to note, however, that ‘Climate Change’ related content is not easy to find on this WebSite !   Comprehensive Enabling Climate Change Legislation, which this Department, and the Irish Government, initially promised for Easter 2010 … and then June 2010 … has, at the time of writing (mid-November 2010), still not made an appearance in the Dáil (Ireland’s Parliament) !

The Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government (DEHLG) lacks strong and competent political direction and the institutional capacity to effectively co-ordinate and oversee the implementation of National Climate Action.  For this reason, closer scrutiny of its activities will be required from the Dáil Committee System.

Contrary to current practice … Foreign Development Aid should not be used to obtain any sort of domestic or in-country credit for Ireland’s National Climate Change Strategy !

Specifically concerning Climate Change Adaptation … the following is stated on Page 45 of the 2007-2012 National Climate Change Strategy Document …

‘As part of a comprehensive policy position on climate change, the Government is committed to developing a national adaptation strategy over the next two years.  This strategy will provide a framework for the integration of adaptation issues into decision-making at national and local level.’

The DEHLG does not, however, intend to publish a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy until 2013 (Ireland’s NC5).

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Climate Change Action in Ireland – Summary

Ireland’s Climate Action to date, i.e. effective Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Implementation, has been laboriously slow and lethargic.  It may best be characterized as ‘Business as Usual’, combined with some ‘Cosmetic Tinkering at the Edges’ as the need arises … the universal excuse, almost a mantra, being that “the competitiveness of the national economy must not be impaired”.  National Performance has been guided by an official policy of exploiting to the maximum all of the UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol’s Flexibility Mechanisms while, at the same time, showing a stark indifference to Climate Adaptation … an over-reliance on Marketing Campaigns in the public media as opposed to mandatory implementation on the ground … and a preference for ‘Soft’ Performance Estimation on paper/computer monitor rather than the more painful ‘real’ performance calculation, which would generate reliable data and statistics to be managed by Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, in co-ordination with EuroStat in Luxembourg.

Despite the importance of the Construction Sector in Ireland and Europe … and its very large adverse impacts on regional and local climate … a significant barrier to concerted Sectoral Climate Action exists because ‘construction’ is not yet identified as a separate Sector, by either the Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) or the European Environment Agency (Copenhagen) … in National and European Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Databases.  Furthermore, our systems of governance and institutional organization, at both levels, do not appear to have the capacity … either to understand or to manage an effective response to the climate challenges created by the Sector.

Climate Change Mitigation Efforts are failing in Ireland; the current economic downturn merely camouflages that unpalatable fact.  Therefore, the necessary corrective actions described in this National Report fall under the heading of ‘Climate Change Adaptation’.

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Irish Nursing Home Care – Dysfunctional National Governance !!

Posted by CJ Walsh

On Tuesday last … 9 November 2010 … Ireland’s Office of the Ombudsman issued a Report to the Irish Oireachtas (the Dáil and Seanad) … in accordance with Section 6(7) of the 1980 Ombudsman Act … concerning an Investigation based on more than 1,000 individual complaints made, since 1985, on behalf of older people who were unable to get long-term nursing home care from their health boards … now the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Please Note Well … this Report is not just about Older People !

This document raises a number of very serious and fundamental issues concerning our current system of Dysfunctional National Governance in Ireland.  Every Irish person should, therefore, expend a small bit of time and effort in making themselves familiar with these problems … especially in the run-up to any by-elections … or, perhaps, even a general election … and certainly before we enter a prolonged period of being hammered in a Draconian Series of 4 Budgets !

This Report places a major question mark over the positions of Ms. Mary Harney T.D., Minister for Health & Children (a woman of strong ‘Boston-esque’, neo-liberal and anti-social convictions) … and the Senior Civil Servants (plural !) in Her Department.

And don’t be fooled into thinking, either, that the Department of Health & Children is our only dysfunctional national ministry !   See my previous Posts.

Ms. Emily O’Reilly, Ireland’s Ombudsman, deserves our full support !

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This is the Full Ombudsman’s Report …

9 November 2010 – Office of the Ombudsman

WHO CARES ? An Investigation into the Right to Nursing Home Care in Ireland

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (621kb)

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Conclusions (Executive Summary)

The conclusions of this investigation are easily stated:

  • The Health Act 1970 has required the State to provide nursing home care for those who need it.
  • It is an open question as to whether that obligation continues in place, notwithstanding recent amendments to the Health Act 1970.
  • The State has failed consistently to meet this obligation over four decades.
  • The State has failed over that same period, and despite repeated commitments (especially since 2001), to amend the law so as to bring actual practice and legal obligations into harmony.
  • Very many people over these decades have been deprived of their legal entitlement.
  • Access to nursing home care over this period has been marked by confusion, uncertainty, misinformation, inconsistency and inequity.
  • Very many people over this period have suffered significant adverse affect.
  • This situation has been allowed to continue with the full knowledge and consent of the responsible State agencies.
  • Arising from these failures, the State is now facing several hundred legal actions from, or on behalf of, people seeking compensation for the costs incurred in having to avail of private nursing home care.
  • These particular failures, which have been allowed to continue for decades, point inevitably to wider failures in government.

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The conduct of the investigation and the preparation of this report for the Oireachtas have been marked by an unprecedented level of rancour and disagreement.

The Department, in particular, has laid a multiplicity of charges against the Ombudsman regarding the manner in which the investigation has been conducted.  Amongst its charges are:

  • that the Ombudsman exceeded her jurisdiction in undertaking this investigation ;
  • that the Ombudsman failed to abide by fair procedures particularly in relation to the provision of a draft version of the investigation report ;
  • that the Ombudsman displayed prejudice and objective bias in the course of the investigation ;
  • that the Ombudsman displayed arrogance in purporting to interpret the law ;
  • that the Ombudsman has purported to deny the State bodies concerned their right to have the litigation (detailed in this report) determined by the Courts.

The Minister, acting on behalf of the Government, has informed the Ombudsman that the Government supports the submission of her Department in which these charges are made.  While the HSE, in general, has been more temperate, it has specifically charged the Ombudsman with attempting to influence the outcome of court proceedings.  In effect, the Department and the HSE are saying that the Ombudsman undertook this investigation in bad faith.

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In fact, the Ombudsman’s motivation in producing this report was five-fold:

     1. To highlight the very significant difficulties faced over several decades by families seeking to make arrangements for long-term nursing home care for a family member.

     2. To represent, in many instances through their own words, the distress and upset (including financial) of people who complained to the Ombudsman’s Office over the years in relation to nursing home care.

     3. To highlight the inadequacy and the tardiness of the State’s responses to these problems.

     4. To raise the issue of whether and, if so how, people adversely affected should have some recognition of having been failed by the State.

     5. To raise wider questions of governance prompted by the practices highlighted in this report.

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In the 2001 Report: ‘Nursing Home Subventions’, the then Ombudsman expressed the view that the issues of bad administration dealt with in that report reflected significant dysfunction in our system of government.  That view could, with only minor contextual amendments, be reproduced in full here with the same validity as in 2001.

The then Ombudsman identified deficits in three sets of relationships which, in his view, contribute significantly to this dysfunction.

These relationships are:

The Relationship between the Oireachtas and the Executive – the Constitutional model whereby the Legislature makes the laws and the Executive implements them has become a fiction; in fact, it is the Executive (Government) ‘which decides policy; which proposes legislation and ensures its passage through the Oireachtas and, subsequently, in its executive capacity ensures that the laws are implemented’.  Parliament is relatively powerless and not in a position to exercise the role (including that of calling the Executive to account) envisaged in the Constitution.

Relationships within the Executive – in the past, there was a clear division of functions as between the political (Ministerial) side and the official side.  The integrity of the governmental process depended, to a large extent, on the official side being seen to be non-political; the tension inevitably generated by this division was regarded as necessary and healthy.  “Good government”, as Professor Séamus Ó Cinnéide put it, “depended on a certain distance and balance between the two sides”.  This distance and balance no longer applies and, again to quote Professor Ó Cinnéide, this change is part of “an unspoken revolution in our system of governance”.  Again, another key element in the overall model of government has been discarded or, at the very least, diluted considerably.

Relationship between Department and Health Boards – similar to the relationships within the Executive, the relationship between the Department and the health boards is most effective where the latter are prepared to keep a certain distance from the former and to exercise, as necessary, their status as independent, statutory bodies.  But the health boards, for the greater part, failed to act independently; to ‘a large extent, health boards appear to act in relation to the Department as if they are satellites rather than independent bodies […]   The majority of the health boards were prepared to continue with a scheme, about which they increasingly had doubts, for as long as the Department told them they should.’

The present Ombudsman comments on these three areas from the perspective of today and concludes that, if anything, matters have disimproved rather than improved.  In relation to the role of the Oireachtas, the Ombudsman observes that parliament has been sidelined and exercises only a limited role.  Reflecting the views of many commentators, the Ombudsman observes that our governmental arrangements are undermined significantly by virtue of having an Executive which is too powerful and a Legislature which is too weak.

As regards relationships within the Executive, and taking the example of the Department of Health & Children, the Ombudsman observes that the distance between Ministers and senior civil servants – which was a necessary feature of our model of government – no longer exists.  In the wider context of the health service, the Ombudsman draws attention to a continuing confusion as to the respective roles of the HSE and of the Department.

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Findings (Executive Summary)

The Ombudsman finds, in relation to the type of complaints dealt with in this investigation, that the health boards (HSE) failed to fulfil their obligations to older people under section 52 of the Health Act 1970 and that this failure came about with the full knowledge and agreement of the Department.  As a result of these failures, very many older people (and their families) suffered significant adverse affect over several decades.  The Ombudsman finds that these failures of the health boards (HSE) and of the Department constitute (to use the language of the Ombudsman Act) actions “based on an undesirable administrative practice” and also actions “contrary to fair or sound administration”.  These findings are at a level of generality as this investigation is an ‘own initiative’ one rather than one linked to specific, named complainants.

The Ombudsman takes the view that the HSE and the Department should acknowledge formally that the State, in the case of older people needing long-term nursing home care, has not been meeting its obligations under section 52 of the Health Act 1970.  This acknowledgment could be in the form of a public statement from the two bodies and could be made on a ‘without prejudice’ basis.

There is no satisfactory solution to the issue of whether there should be financial redress for those who have been adversely affected by the State’s failure to provide long-stay care.  The financial consequences for the State, in meeting a recommendation to compensate all those adversely affected, would be enormous, potentially running to several billion euros.  In present circumstances, it appears this is not a cost which the State can meet.  Nor is it likely that the State will be in a position to meet this type of charge for many years to come.  On the other hand, not to recommend financial redress, might be seen as condoning maladministration and allowing bad practice to go unchecked.  It would also mean that individual people and their families are being left with nowhere to turn and with a financial burden to bear which, as the Ombudsman understands the law, should have been borne by the State.

With considerable reluctance, the Ombudsman takes the view that in present circumstances the public interest is best served in not recommending any specific redress in the sense of financial compensation for those affected adversely.  The Ombudsman suggests that some thought be given within the Department to devising some limited scheme under which families which have suffered serious financial hardship might be assisted.  One possibility, in this regard, is that the existing Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme might provide the statutory mechanism for the making of one-off payments, based on exceptional need, for such people affected adversely by the State’s failure to provide nursing home care for a family member.

The Ombudsman feels it is vital that steps be taken to prevent situations, such as described in this report, coming about in the future; or, where they do come about, there should be mechanisms in place to deal with them at an early stage.  The Ombudsman proposes that, in future, measures to deal with such instances should be conducted with full transparency and in the public domain.  The Ombudsman proposes the creation of an independent group whose function would be to advise Government on how best to handle legal actions, or threatened legal actions, which involve numbers of people and which arise from a contended failure of a State agency to meet statutory obligations particularly in instances where those claimed to be affected belong to a vulnerable group in society.  Past examples of situations where such an approach might have been helpful include:

          –   the army deafness claims ;

          –   the contaminated blood claims ;

          –   education rights of autistic children ;

          –   provision of secure care for children ;    and

          –   the right of older people to long stay nursing home care.

This proposal is based on the premise that the State should react to such situations, not simply in legalistic terms, but in terms which have regard both to legal rights (including human rights), to the State’s finances and the overall public interest.  The proposal envisages that, while ultimate legal responsibility for dealing with such claims will continue to rest with the State (and its relevant agency), the direction of the State’s response should have regard to the advice of this group.  Amongst the options for this group would be that of stating a case to the High Court, perhaps at an early stage, in order to get legal clarity where that is needed.  The overall thrust of this proposal is that the State’s response to situations of this kind should be speedy, be made at an early stage, and be based on considerations of fairness and the public good rather than, as tends to happen at present, being defensive, combative and legalistic.

Some thought might be given to the possibility of such a group acting as adviser to the Attorney General in fulfilling the role of guardian of the public interest or, alternatively, that this group would replace the Attorney General in fulfilling that role.  In any case, there is certainly considerable scope for improving our governmental mechanisms with a view to ensuring that, where these major issues arise, they will be handled always with a view to securing the public interest.

Emily O’Reilly – Ombudsman – November 2010

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New York 9-11 WTC Incident – Any Societal Lessons Learned ?

Posted by CJ Walsh

2010-10-01:  We have a very large Page on our Corporate WebSite devoted to some of the more important technical aspects of the World Trade Center Incident (9-11) … which occurred on Tuesday morning (local time in New York), 11th September 2001.  This Incident resulted in a major and unprecedented Collapse Level Event (CLE) for Iconic Buildings … in an Iconic City with a highly developed Economic Environment.

A long time ago … and yes, you really do have to pinch yourself to remember that it was way back then.  As a reliable reflection of the continued popular dismay and concern about 9-11 … once again, the number of visitors to our WebPage went through the roof on the 11th September just passed.

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New York … any City … is a geographical region, with open and flexible boundaries, consisting of :

(a)  An interwoven, densely constructed core (built environment) ;

(b)  A large resident population of more than 500,000 people (social environment) … in this case … as of 1st July 2009, according to the United States Census Bureau, the City of New York had a population of 8,391,881 people … an increase of 383,603, or 4.8%, since April 2000 ;

(c)  A supporting hinterland of lands, waters and other natural resources (cultivated landscape) ;

together functioning as …

  1. A Complex Living System (analogous to, yet different from, other living systems such as ecosystems and organisms).     and
  2. A Synergetic Community capable of providing a high level of individual welfare and social wellbeing for all of its inhabitants.

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Within a few short hours in 2001 … the entire Fabric of New York’s Social Environment, south of Canal Street, had been shredded into tiny unidentifiable pieces.

Just 5 weeks after 9-11 … in the middle of October 2001 … I was staying in my cousin’s apartment within the WTC Security Zone.  The reason for my visit was to present a Paper at a Conference being held in Mid-Town Manhattan.  Many participants did not attend.  Some of the people I met there, however, were so emotionally traumatized by 9-11 that they could barely bring themselves to speak about what had happened.  On a few occasions, I had also witnessed racial harassment … one nasty case involving a policeman … of those individuals, e.g. taxi drivers, having a non-WASP Profile !   You can guess what I mean.

Fast forward to events surrounding the recent 9-11 Anniversary in 2010 … and what do we see on our television screens ??   Protests against a project to refurbish and enlarge an existing Islamic Community Centre, located not too far from the 9-11 Incident Site … and a crazy proposal, emanating from a ‘mickey mouse’ Christian Fundamentalist Pastor in Florida State, to hold a Public Burning of the Qur’an.

Dismal, Depressing and Shameful Societal Responses to the World Trade Center Incident (9-11) !!!

Having suffered … intelligent people are supposed to … and usually do … learn valuable lessons about life and living.

But … what lessons have actually been learned, in the United States of America, from 9-11 ???

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