Pat Leahy

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Pat Leahy

The Department of Public Expenditure sought to block the approval by Cabinet of the so-called “housing tsar” in April, new internal records show. The Government department responsible for State spending cited concerns about the lack of a business case for the role, the implications for wider public pay policy and concerns about the process for the selection of the preferred candidate, Brendan McDonagh, the chief executive of Nama.

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Pat Leahy

The Government is opening a public consultation on widening planning exemptions to allow people to build garden rooms and extend their homes in a bid to increase the supply of available housing. Haven’t we heard something about this before? We have. Minister of State at the Department of Housing John Cummins floated the idea in February. So is it going ahead now? Steady on. That’s not quite the pace at which things happen.

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Pat Leahy

Management at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), the embattled State body which runs three children’s hospitals, was warned repeatedly about toxic, bullying and disruptive behaviour by some senior staff, according to doctors who previously worked there. Several doctors contacted The Irish Times after publication yesterday of details about a CHI report on the toxic atmosphere in part of one of its hospitals.

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Pat Leahy

Just 15 per cent of the new planners sought by city and county managers two years ago to speed up the delivery of new housing have been recruited, latest figures show. While delays in the planning process are cited by developers, builders and utilities as a big reason for the undersupply of housing, the planning departments of local authorities remain understaffed by hundreds of posts, with only slow progress in filling the vacancies.

3 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Pat Leahy

A “negative and toxic” work culture at a hospital run by Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), in which multiple staff complained of “unprofessional and disruptive behaviour from consultants”, contributed to the undermining of care and treatment for sick children, an internal report has found. The CHI report also noted one consultant had taken a legal action for defamation against another.