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THE CEANN COMHAIRLE will likely be unable to keep an expensive watch given to him by a government official while he was visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl was given a Rolex Milgauss watch by his counterpart, the President of the Federal National Council of the UAE, Dr Al Qaibasi, when in the country in late 2018.
Ministers or government officials must notify the Secretary General if they receive a gift which exceeds €650 in value.
In turn, the Secretary General must inform the Standards in Public Office (Sipo) Commission what is done with the item in question, as set out under the Ethics Acts.
The watch given to Ó Fearghaíl is believed to cost about €7,700 – well exceeding the limit.
On 29 January 2019, the Ceann Comhairle wrote to Secretary General Martin Fraser to inform him about the watch and ask what he should do with it, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show.
The Rolex was given to him while on official parliamentary business in the UAE at the end of October and start of November.
The gift, in my estimation, exceeds the value of €650 … Accordingly, I write to inform you of this gift received by me a number of weeks ago.
“I will await your formal instructions, as Secretary General of the Government, as to the arrangement of custody of this item,” Ó Fearghaíl wrote.
Watch may be sold
Fraser responded on 5 February, saying he would ask the Office of Public Works (OPW) “to arrange for a valuation of the item concerned”. He said he would contact Ó Fearghaíl’s private secretary Brian Prunty once this had been completed.
On 27 February, Prunty wrote to the Taoiseach’s office seeking an update on the matter, saying the Ceann Comhairle was “anxious to progress the matter”. In response, he was told the OPW wanted more information about the watch.
Prunty accordingly sent on details about the make of the watch as well as images of it.
The outcome of the OPW’s evaluation has not yet been confirmed. TheJournal.ie has contacted Ó Fearghaíl’s office and the Office of the Taoiseach for comment.
If the watch is valued at over €650 as expected, the Secretary General will advise Ó Fearghaíl what to do with it in terms of “custody” or “disposal”.
If the latter option is chosen, the watch may be sold and the money used for charitable purposes.
With reporting by Ken Foxe
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Fair Play to him for reporting it and going through the proper channels.
@Hardly Normal: id be interested to know what if anything his counter part got.
@Hardly Normal: why did it take him three months to report it? Was it because of the FOI requests? Has he been wearing it? I am not as convinced as to his integrity as you are.
@Dave Barrett: Shamrock
@Darius Guppy: well the report was there when the documents were received after the request under the foi act so I think it’s safe to say he did the right thing in this instance.
@Hardly Normal: fair play to him for complying with his obligations? Is that praiseworthy? I’m surprised this is even a story. It should be a given.
@John King: it should be but rarely is , how tempting would it be like?
@Darius Guppy: probably hadn’t got time …. ah no wait ….
@Hardly Normal: Wow, praising a politician for doing what they are required to do under the rules.
@Mike Conway: well it makes a nice change from deflection and distraction, scandals over expense accounts and fancy wine and dinners. Someone does something right you say fair play, if someone does something wrong you pull them on it. Simples…
@Trevor croft: Great comment, laughed wholeheartedly at that lol!!
@Hardly Normal: How did the journal get a picture of the watch on Monday morning – is this a political story planted to say how honest we are?
Im just curious why this is a story , what is the timing , sources etc, is there going to be a lot of storys coming out during the week about this now?
@Paul Wallace: I thought so too Paul, it must of been true cause theyve deleted my comment
Nothing to see here move along. Should be allowed to keep it for being honest and following the proper procedures. Unlike some of them on Kildare Street.
@Michael Collins: Yeah, screw the homeless charity that would receive the funds of the sale. I get your point on him doing the right thing. He could buy it himself and give the money to s good charity. He does earn enough.
@Cal Mooney: he would also get a 650 euro discount.
@Cal Mooney: Do you sell all your gifts and donate the proceeds to charity?
@Cal Mooney: you’re deluded : if sold, the money will never reach any homeless or other charity.
@Cal Mooney: if it’s going to a homeless charity it’ll be paying top salaries and not helping people
@Roy Dowling: I dont donate to most charities anymore. To much corruption and lack of transparency. I donate when im confident the money and most of it will get to where its needed. Also CEOs of charities on ridiculous money too swanning around in 19D Mercs and BMWs. Nearly as bad as John Delaney and the FAI.
@Roy Dowling: People appear to be missing the point. The watch was gifted to him due to his office not cos he was a “good guy”.
There are VERY valid reasons why you cannot accept expensive gifts.
Remember Ian Paisley jnr and his wee trip to the Maldives………
What’s different here (except he finally got around to declaring it.)
Let him keep it. Ffs.
@George McCarthy: like the diamond encrusted dagger given to Charles Haughey by a Saudi official ?
@Quentin Moriarty: in fairness, he got great use out of that
@George McCarthy: Why would you rather he keep it than the money go to charity? Gifts can be used as a form of bribery towards political decision makers, there’s a good reason why he can’t keep it.
@George McCarthy: you’re missing the bigger picture here kid.
@Quentin Moriarty: The smart way around this gift rule is to have the gifts given to the spouse or partner. Charley had that well ordered.
Wouldn’t it be gas if it was one of those fake one’s you buy in Spain
@Jolly Bourke: Wait.. what?! … ahhh feck it.. :-(
@Jolly Bourke: Lucky Lucky €5….me show u buy
Waste of money, my Casio watch is bulletproof and cost less than €40
@Neil Mac: Ah, the Casio F-91…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Usage_in_terrorism
Nice to see them dishing out this little Pr spin as it was declared. Pity they couldn’t answer other questions so fast
A politician following the rules is deemed newsworthy. Says it all.
@Enter the Flagon: took him over 3 months before declaring it. When UEA official hands you a Rolex you already know it’s well past the limit allowed. I’d say he was hoping to keep it on the down low. Then again can you blame him?
@Enter the Flagon: This is common practice in the Middle East, not just to give ‘gifts’ but to issue bribes also. Tony Blair’s government had to adapt to this practice when issuing UK government military contracts to Saudi Arabia and factor it in.
It may be that it’s unusual for it to occur to an Irish government official, or perhaps it’s just the first time one was honest and reported it. Which itself would be unusual and newsworthy. A beautiful watch and, in the grand scheme of things, not that valuable, let the honest man keep it.
@Arch Angel: it’s a 7k Watch. What do you think will happen if people see him out and about wearing a 7k Watch that is miles above their gift limits?
Fact of the matter is all companies have limits on the values of gifts that can be accepted.
My company has a limit of $75 I think it is. Do you think accepting a watch that is 1000 times higher than the limit acceptable?
This article speaks more to how the UAE gets things done, forget about one watch and the process here for handling bribes….I mean, gifts.
It’s about time ..
I’d say Sean was sitting in the Dail bar and someone said “jasus that’s a nice watch Sean”
Sean- “yeah them Arab lads gave it to me”
“Ah right, did ya declare it ?”
Sean- “Ah boll0x “….
I don’t think it was a big deal for him to declare it. Unfortunately 8k isn’t really a significant amount to these useless shower of overpaid politicians, its less than what they get each month in salary and expenses.
@Adrian: 8k once off isn’t significant, maybe, but if he doesn’t have to declare it then where does the line get drawn?
Fair play to him would love to know what the rest of them got .?
Oh and it doesn’t pay to be in politics eh. But at least he was honest something tells me he won’t be liked for that with that lot he works with.
I’ll have it if he doesn’t need it
So why is this news? The Ceann Comhairle is doing everything correctly. The OPW dragging their feet, as usual.
@Eugene Comaskey: Exactly. If I were to be offered a gift what exceeded something lije €50 I can’t accept it. It could be construed as a bribe.
Whilst I understand that refusing could be considered rude, it’s not his watch, it was gifted to his Office.
And as there is no reason for the State to have a Rolex it should be sold.
And I don’t doubt for a second that the UAE fully understand that.
I bought a genuine Rolex fo €15 in Turkey a few years back. I’ll let him have it for just under the €650. Comes in its own carrier bag and all..
We need more like Seán in the Dáil.
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: We need less he is FFG after all.
A seemingly honest Irish politician…we should have him stuffed and put on display when he bites the big one.
Bet he’s sick!
@Tara Murphy: probably a 24 hour bug
u can just imagine what all the politicians are getting so. And not just in UAE.
“Anything to declare sir”!!
Even expensive gifts from abroad need to be declared for customs duty.
It’s a shame that we’re all floored by his honesty. Absolutely unheard of.
For 8k that’s one ugly watch. Look at the second hand!
Sean: “Hey, I got this cool watch! I was thinking of keeping it!”
Official: “Are you for real?”
Sean: “Eh, yeah?”
You can see how it might happen.
What an exclusive!
Why is this even a story!?
He received a gift in office that exceeded the permitted amount.
He correctly reported it.
The valuation will prove it exceeds the threshold and it should be either gifted to the State or sold. As there is no historical value etc. it should be sold.
This is standard practice, why are we even discussing it!?
to flog it off at an auction is a dreadful insult to the UAE folk. To not accept a gift is deemed disrespectful for these people – just saying. The recipient was honest , he went through the correct channels- they’ll prob get 2k at auction- let the man keep the gift
Is there any way we can blame America for this? Or global capitalism? Asking for a friend.
Even though it’s a Rolex it’s still an ugly watch.
And it shouldn’t be accepted. Simple as.
The boys with the monkey from Finglas may buy it at public auction.
Time will tell !
It’s about time he came clean !
There used to be snob value attached to Rolex watches, but if you wear them now, people will assume that you’re the member of a cartel.
I feel he should be entitled to keep the watch, it was given to him as a personal gift. Mary Lyons
@Mary Lyons: No it wasn’t. It was given to him in his position as Ceann Comhairle.
And there are reasons politicians and people in business should not accept expensive gifts. They can be seen as being bribed.
Think Ian Paisley and his trips to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
I’ll give him €100 for it
have your say