Examining corruption in Ireland
Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore believes that Minister Shatter’s abuse of office to do down a political opponent is nothing more than the normal cut and thrust of politics.
In fairness to Gilmore he’s accurately reflecting the zero level of political intergrity within our corrupt political system.
The first and most important thing to be said about the ongoing penalty points controversey is that it is state corruption on a massive scale.
And because it is corruption on a massive scale the lies and hypocrisy surrounding the issue are also on a massive scale.
Take the dishonesty and hypocrisy of Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton for example. She was asked a very simple question on the Marian Finucane Show yesterday.
How did the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter come to have Garda information about a private citizen?
Burton refused to answer the question and instead robustly defended the Shatter/Garda report saying that is was a great example of government transparency and accountability.
She was asked again.
The report is being sent on to the Garda Inspectorate and the Dail Justice Committee…waffle…
She was asked again.
I’m not going to jump to conclusions based on what’s in the media…waffle…
She was asked again.
The key issue in this country is to get people back to work again…waffle…
The presenter finally gave up.
You don’t seem to want to focus on what the Minister actually said.
Burton went on to demonstrate a good degree of political stupidity by constantly returning to her dishonest waffle.
We have to look at this in the round. It’s an important issue for our democracy. First of all we have to look at the issue of road safety.
At this point her fellow panelists were openly laughing at her in contempt.
Burton’s despicable performance was similar to that of Fianna Fail politicians who lined up to defend the liar Ahern.
None of this, of course, is unusual or unexpected. Ireland is, after all, an intrinsically corrupt state. All politicians who come to power must decide whether to stand by their principles or defend the corrupt system.
Joan Burton, in common with the vast majority of her fellow politicians, has obviously abandoned her political principles in favour of remaining within the corrupt system.
A tiny minority of politicians like Roisin Shortall and Neasa Childers do stand by their principles and opt out of the rotten system but they pay the price of immediate ostracisation by their political colleagues.
Neasa Childers, I felt, accurately summed up how it feels when a politician is faced with the decision of defending or abandoning our corrupt political system.
I felt at that point my position was completely lacking in integrity and indeed a sort of corruption if I were to stay in that situation where I was feeling shame basically about what they were telling me.
I wonder if Joan Burton is feeling shame or is she still trying to convince herself that, on balance, she’s still a politician of principle.
Helen McEntee, daughter of recently deceased Shane McEntee, was asked about online social media abuse during her election campaign (Marian Finucane Show, Saturday).
I don’t agree with anonymous abuse but it happens. It’s all part and parcel of putting yourself out there in the public eye. It’s just a matter of dealing with it.
A sensible and realistic attitude to media coverage unlike the many other politicians who were quick to exploit the death of Ms. McEntee’s father as an excuse to further restrict media freedom.
Ms. McEntee also effectively confirmed that all the hypocritical guff about online social media abuse being a factor in her father’s suicide was just that, hypocritical guff.
Was online abuse a huge pressure on your dad?
No, I don’t think so. My dad wasn’t very much into Facebook and twitter. He didn’t have a huge online presence. I don’t think he would have seen anything that would have been put up.
Senator Jimmy Harte, Minister Pat Rabbitte and others take note
It has been observed by many commentators that public cynicism towards the political and financial communities has increased greatly since the economic collapse in 2008.
But who could blame people for their cynicism when they hear comments like that recently made by deputy chairman of AIB Dr. Michael Somers when speaking about the possibility of debt write-offs.
Quoted in the Sunday Independent the good Dr. said he was not anxious to see AIB writing off loads of debt any time soon.
Why was that, he was asked?
It’s taxpayers’ money said the good Dr., and I want to see as much of that money as possible returned to the taxpayer.
My goodness such concern for the taxpayers’ of Ireland had me in tears.
How times and attitudes have changed. There was a time when bankers were only interested in ruthlessly raking in as much profit as possible no matter how destructive their greed was to customer or country.
Surely I thought, the return of Jesus Christ himself cannot be far off when he will confer sainthood on bankers for their self-sacrifice in saving the common people of Ireland from a fate worse than, well…worse than that of struggling to survive under the yoke of ruthless bankers.
And saint Somers was quick to point out that it’s only current bankers who will be saved, who will avoid the fires of bankers’ hell.
Speaking of those dastardly villain bankers who caused all the trouble in the first place saint Somers said:
Most of the guys who were around at the time deserve to be beaten up.
Beaten up, my goodness and to think there are so many nasty cynics going around claiming that no banker will face justice.
The corrupt political/administrative system that brought Ireland to its knees in 2008 is still in place.
For a short period of time after the rotten and incompetent Cowen government fell there was panic among the elite that have ruled and ruined Ireland for the last several decades that their time was at an end.
That panic has now receded with the knowledge that the enormous cost to be paid for the decades of corruption has been safely transferred onto the shoulders of the current and future generations of ordinary Irish citizens.
Nowhere is the relief more evident that the old rotten regime is still in place more evident than in the financial sector.
Recent calls from a number of bankers for a relaxation of financial regulation are a clear indication that the system is almost back to its abnormal and destructive worst.
Just last week deputy chairman of AIB Dr. Michael Somers revealed that international banks have told him that they were pulling out of Ireland because of over-regulation.
Now let’s be clear about what’s happening here.
Prior to the economic collapse in 2008 there was absolutely no financial regulation whatsoever.
Banks and other financial institutions regularly engaged in blatant criminal activity without any response from so-called regulatory agencies.
And let’s not fool ourselves (again).
Some international banks may be complaining about regulation but I suspect that the real pressure is coming from within the Irish financial sector.
After all, the gangsters who infest the sector have never experienced any kind of regulation never mind actual law enforcement.
The problem for the Irish political system is, of course, the presence of the Troika.
In the good old days Irish politicians made sure that banks had a clear field to rob and plunder at will without having to worry about inconveniences such as law enforcement.
That Wild West financial environment is not so easy to maintain these days since the arrival of professional regulators in the form of the Troika.
But be absolutely sure about one thing. As soon as ‘regulation’ is back within the hands of our corrupt political/administrative system it will be the Wild West all over again.
A very nice official from Revenue called me this evening in response to my on-going campaign to find out how many people were jailed for tax evasion last year.
The secretariat had searched their files but couldn’t come up with a telephone number for the Press Office.
Fortunately, they did manage to uncover the direct line numbers of two Press Office officials. I’ll be giving them a call in the morning.
Bizarre isn’t it? The Revenue website provides emails and telephone numbers for every office throughout the land and beyond but if somebody wants to call central office, if such an office exists, there’s no number or email.
I don’t think there’s anything sinister or underhand about this. It just seems that Revenue, while providing contact numbers for every possible query regarding the payment of taxes, doesn’t see any need to provide a contact number for those who may have a question regarding their own activities.
And what about journalists? How do they communicate with a Revenue Press Office that has no telephone and an inoperable email?
Do they write letters?
There was great excitement and tension at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this evening as Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy battled it out for a place in the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship.
Both combatants swapped frame for frame right down to the wire of the last frame.
Coverage was due to end at 6 pm for those without a red button but, thankfully, someone in the BBC had the good sense to continue broadcasting.
Judd Trump, my favourite, just pulled it off setting himself up for another battle with the most talented snooker player ever, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Should be great entertainment.
The Revenue Commissioners have just published their annual report for 2012 and, once again, there is no mention of how many tax evaders ended up in jail.
So, once again, I phoned to ask for the information. I was told, once again, that I would have to put my request in writing.
The email address provided by Revenue was rejected as non-existent so I returned to Revenue’s website to search for a telephone number or email address, any telephone number or any email address that might put me in contact with a human who might actually answer my question or, Zeus willing, provide me with a working email address.
After many failed attempts I called the Director General’s office.
Hello, could you give me a number or email address to which I could direct some questions regarding your recently published annual report?
Official: I’m not sure, I’ve never heard of anyone asking questions about our annual report.
I was given an email address for the Press Office but it doesn’t work, could you give me the telephone number for the Press Office?
Official: The Press Office doesn’t have a telephone number, just an email. Hang on and I’ll check with my supervisor.
My supervisor contacted the secretariat and they don’t know as of yet who you can contact in relation to the annual report.
Can I take your name and number and we’ll get back to you as soon as we have the information.
From the Attic Archives – Cork Examiner 23rd December 1994.
This article should provide a bit of a laugh for all those out there whose lives have been destroyed by our corrupt political/administrative/regulatory system.
A bank must be seen to be sound and viable and a safe haven for deposits, according to Central Bank Governor, Maurice O’Connell.
Banks need to be profitable, he told an anniversary seminar of the Irish Bankers’ Federation.
A bank must have a good credit rating. This is why high capital adequacy and other prudential requirements are laid down.
The Central Bank has an obvious interest in seeing that the profits of the banks which it supervises are adequate but not excessive, taking one year with another.
The Irish banking sector has recently been the target of much criticism. It has been accused of ignoring the needs of the small business sector, of paying unduly generous salaries to its senior executives and of making huge profits.
Much of the criticism was simply populist, unfair and unreasonable.
But he added that financial institutions are in a position of some privilege because of their influence in the economic life of the country and a public perception cannot be dismissed.
This imposes certain community obligations that must not be abused.
For Ireland’s financial institutions to develop in a healthy environment, there were two other requirements besides adequate profitability, said Mr. O’Connell.
Supervision must be to the highest standards to demonstrate full confidence in our system.
The Central Bank is well aware of its responsibility in this regard and is committed to applying the highest prudential standards.
Lastly inflation should be minimised, if only for its corrosive effect on the financial system, said Mr. O’Connell.
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The hilariously entitled ‘independent’ internal Garda investigation into allegations that up to 100,000 penalty points may have been quashed is complete and the report is with the Minister for Justice.
I contacted the Minister’s office to ask if and when the report would be published.
Dear Mr Sheridan,
I am directed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Mr Alan Shatter, T.D. to refer further to your recent email concerning allegations relating to the processing of fixed charge notices by An Garda Síochána.
The Garda Commissioner’s report of the examination into allegations concerning the enforcement of road traffic legislation was received in the Department.
The Minister intends to bring the report to Government at the earliest opportunity and to publish the findings thereafter.
Yours sincerely
Here’s a mad guess – the report will be published on the last day of this Dail term, just before they all head off for a long, long summer holiday.
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