Category: Government

What Mr. Gibson does not know…

Neil Gibson of Oxford Economics was interviewed over the weekend about the Irish situation.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

People have accepted that they had a very good ten years enjoying the boom and have been willing to dip into their pockets to repay. I think that’s a fantastic achievement for the Irish economy and its people but we are approaching a tipping point where that may no longer be achievable.

Here’s what Gibson does not know:

He doesn’t know that the financial and social catastrophe which is enveloping Ireland began 31 years ago when the criminal politician Haughey came to power.

He doesn’t know that the corrupt political system spawned by the criminal Haughey is responsible for the disaster and that the Irish people, far from willingly dipping into their pockets to repay, are being forcibly fleeced of all they own in order to bail out the gangsters who are the chief supporters of the corrupt political system.

He doesn’t know that the tipping point he rightly claims is approaching will finally, finally, finally force the Irish people to get off their knees and destroy the corrupt political system that has brought total ruin upon the nation.

I don’t know that either – but I’m hopeful.

Yet another scandal, yet another excuse, yet another rip off

Yet another scandal, spawned by a previous scandal, that’s going to be ‘scrutinised’, by yet another useless state ‘watchdog’ (Irish Independent).

This latest scandal concerns payments of €30 million to legal firms, over a nine month period, for advising the government on the banking bailout.

The so called watchdog is the Public Accounts Committee.

Like all government committees the PAC is nothing more than a talking shop, it has no power to act on its investigations and there’s not the slightest hint that our corrupt political system is about to bestow any such powers.

Politicians, (Pat Rabbitte in this instance) are, yet again, outraged at such waste and are demanding immediate action.

Is there anything we can do about these extraordinary fees or do these guys just think they can name any figure?

Well, yes Pat, they can and that will remain the case for so long as our political system remains a dysfunctional entity.

Yet again, we see a super highly paid civil servant coming out justifying the scandalous payments because the super highly paid government ministers who should be answering the questions have absconded in their super expensive Mercedes.

Department of Finance secretary general Kevin Cardiff admitted it was not possible to monitor how many hours were worked by the firms or how many staff were assigned to the task.

Having admitted his department’s total ignorance of the matter he then went on, bizarrely, to state.

I can tell you honestly that the money spent was well worth the money. The risk of not taking that legal support could have cost us a lot more.

Mr. Cardiff also admitted that the firms hired had a potential conflict of interest given that they also carried out work for banks and wealthy clients but, don’t worry, he assured destitute taxpayers, they all had Chinese Walls to avert any problems.

Phew, that’s a relief, for a moment there I thought destitute taxpayers were in danger of being ripped off.

Mr. Cardiff further assured impoverished taxpayers.

We haven’t come across instances where they felt compromised

I can just imagine Mr. Cardiff approaching a staff member at the legal firm Arthur Cox, which got more than €10 million for ‘advice’.

Eh, excuse me sir. Are feeling compromised?

No, oh that’s great, the taxpayer’s will be so relieved.

Clientelism: The foundation of our corrupt political system

Pat Kenny is an experienced, well informed and articulate current affairs broadcaster.

It was therefore deeply depressing and indeed disturbing to witness his (unwitting) endorsement of our corrupt political system (Frontline, 18th October).

In response to a call from Niall Crowley of Claiming our Future for a more diverse participation in politics Kenny said:

We do have a very intimate relationship with our politicians, not like in Britain where you might not see your local MP from one end of the decade to the next.

Here, we can drop along on a Saturday or Sunday and meet all of our TDs. There is a real connection, whether they’ll do anything about what you say to them is another question, but we can meet them.

We can meet Bertie; we can meet Brian, go into a particular pub in Offaly on a Saturday night and meet Brian Cowen.

Crowley, rightly, responded that that’s not participation, it is clientelism and very dependent.

The brutal truth is that clientelism is the foundation on which our corrupt political system feeds and, in turn, infects every level of Irish society. It is the single biggest reason for the destruction of our country.

Clientelism has nothing to do with democracy, in fact, the practice destroys democracy. Citizens are forced into selling their vote in return for petty favours most of which they are already entitled to in any case.

Politicians, caught up in the corrupt, undemocratic circle, vie with each other in plundering state resources to pay for votes to maintain their power.

The buying and selling of votes/power then moves to other areas of public life. Bankers, businessmen, friends of the most powerful parties all pay their corrupt dues and are rewarded with grants, tax concessions and in very many cases allowed to openly operate outside the law.

To facilitate this widespread corruption and law breaking regulatory authorities are stripped of resources and/or ordered to desist from investigating friends of the powerful.

By destroying democracy clientelism reduces citizens to beggars, destroys national pride and national self esteem and results in a nation of politically ignorant citizens.

If Ireland had evolved into a real democracy the likes of Haughey, Ahern, Burke, Lawlor, Lowry et al would never have survived a single day. Most of them would have served time.

If Ireland had evolved into a real democracy bankers, developers and the many other so called professions would never have had the opportunity to indulge in their corrupt activities in pursuit of vast wealth.

All this activity, all this corruption, all this social and democratic destruction has one single origin – Clientelism.

The fact that somebody as influential as Pat Kenny sees this (corrupt and corrupting) system of clientelism as an integral and laudable part of our system of government is an indication of how far we have to go before the building of a new, and truly democratic, republic can begin.

Copy to:
Pat Kenny

Mary O'Rourke – The Marie Antoinette of the nation

In a perfect but pathetic caricature of the nation Brendan O’Connor introduced Fianna Fail TD Mary O’Rourke onto his show last Saturday as – Mammy of the Nation.

Marie Antoinette of the Nation would, I think, be a more appropriate title but those who were there would be outraged at my suggestion.

The presenter, Brendan O’Connor is a great admirer of the scumbag, Bertie Ahern. When Ahern was lying his way through a whole series of excuses regarding his finances, O’Connor was taking the country, and in particular the media, to task for attacking such a great patriot.

O’Connor continues to rant on about the state of the country and those responsible for the disaster but, like his Sunday Independent colleague, Jody Corcoran, who is Ahern’s number one fan, his brain thinks that history only began after Cowen’s succession to the throne of power.

The politically ignorant audience would also be outraged at my description of O’Rourke as the Marie Antoinette of the Nation. They just couldn’t get enough of her. There was wild applause at her every utterance, no matter how stupid.

Let’s cover just two points this sub standard politician made.

When asked why she was calling for an election she explained that it would force the Opposition to reveal their plans to save the country.

Such (political) stupidity prevents her from understanding that even if the Opposition said they were going to hand over the country to the president of Zimbabwe, they would still win the next election. (Come to think of it, Mugabe would probably do a better job than our incompetent crowd).

When asked about Cowen she was very supportive, saying that he had turned a corner; (yet another corner turned) that he would lead Fianna Fail into the next election and there was every chance of victory.

Even O’Connor, an apparently strong Fianna Fail supporter, was stunned at O’Rourke’s political ignorance and naivety.

And still the audience applauded.

What we are witnessing here are two extremes of reality.

At one extreme we have a politician who seems to be completely unaware of the part her corruption infected party has played in the destruction of the country

O’Rourke is a senior member of the ruling elite in this country.

She operates comfortably within a largely corrupt political system that has destroyed any semblance of democracy and reduced our country to banana republic status.

She seems to have no problem whatsoever in forcing Irish citizens to pay the price for decades of political, state and business corruption.

She feels no guilt that the legacy of her corruption infected party will be the impoverishment of generations of Irish citizens.

O’Rourke, like the rest of her Fianna Fail colleagues, is a traitor to Ireland and its people.

On the other extreme we have members of the public, including O’Connor, who seem to have no ability whatsoever in identifying the enemy, of identifying those who have brought disaster upon the country.

O’Rourke, and the rest of our sub standard public representatives, is strutting around the media studios of the country being feted as if they were superstars.

If the people in that audience were politically educated they would see immediately that this so called Mammy of the Nation is actually a representative of the corrupt political system that has destroyed their lives and the lives of their children for generations to come.

They would have reacted to her presence with deep anger and thrown her out of the studio with O’Connor, fleeing for his life, close behind her.

It is this yawning gap between the arrogance and corruption of our body politic and the political ignorance of Irish citizens that needs to be bridged and this can only be achieved by a two pronged strategy.

Firstly, it must be instilled in the psyche of Irish citizens that it is they who hold power; that it is the politicians who work for them.

They must be made to realise that democracy is an everyday event and not just a case of voting for the local gangster every five years in return for petty favours.

Secondly, (and this will come about as a consequence if Irish citizens become politically educated) politicians must be made immediately accountable for all their actions.

Initially, this would mean jail sentences and other severe punishments until the disease of corruption was significantly cut out of public life. Only then could we claim to be a functional democracy and begin the long road to recovery.

In such a genuinely democratic environment it would be impossible for a criminal like Haughey to take power and plunder the nation’s resources.

It would be impossible for a scum bag like Bertie Ahern to become Taoiseach and disgrace the nation.

It would be impossible for sub standard politicians like O’Rourke to sit in a television studio doing impressions of Marie Antoinette without suffering the same fate as that aristocratic bitch.

Copy to:
Mary O’Rourke

The Tsunami is upon us

It is evident from listening to recent media coverage that the full realisation of the disaster about to befall our country is, finally, beginning to hit home.

Panic is now the dominant emotion running through all the (totally irrelevant) discussion on what needs to be done to save ourselves.

The following are some quotes from my assessment of the crisis since October 2008.

Musings while waiting for the Tsunami

October 23, 2008

We’re in a moment just like that before a Tsunami strikes. The sea is sucked out a great distance from the shore and people, in their ignorance and excitement, rush out to stare at beached fish flapping about. There’s absolutely no realisation of what’s just beyond the horizon.

In the shadow of the Tsunami

April 8, 2009

Irish citizens are beginning to realise that their politicians are incompetent and to a large extent, corrupt. They are beginning to realise that our corrupt system of administration will always give priority to favoured sections of society.

They are beginning to realise that in the coming year or two they are going to be stripped clean of most of their assets.
The question is – will they tolerate it?

The tsunami is about to strike

October 21, 2009

Countless thousands are going to lose everything. The Government will not succeed in resolving the crisis; they simply do not have the experience, vision or intelligence to deal with such a massive crisis.

The country’s economy will end up administrated by the IMF and/EU bureaucrats, we will, effectively, lose our sovereignty. There will be no return to normality in the short or even the medium term. Ireland is looking down the dark tunnel of a prolonged and dangerous depression where it’s every man for himself.

The best Irish citizens can hope for is that the coming tsunami, as it destroys all their wealth and dreams, also sweeps away the entire rotten system and all those who support and defend it.

All talk about the crisis is now irrelevant – it’s too late. All talk about an election is irrelevant – it’s too late. All talk about a national government is irrelevant – It’s too late.

The people of Ireland need to focus on just one thing at this time – the complete destruction of the corrupt political and administrative system that has betrayed Ireland.

Only then can we begin (for the first time in our history) to build a real democratic republic.

When will someone go to prison?

FitzPatrick still living high life

Every week our Government steals €210m from us and gives it to Sean FitzPatrick’s ruined bank, so that he and the rest of his ilk can carry on living the high life.

The NAMA scam was set up to assist them — those who passed on good tips to Bertie and co in the Galway tent of corruption.

Who shared in the millions of euro for the so-called advice that Cowen and Lenihan sought to pull this con on the people?

Why are the debt collectors not sent after the people who owe the money? Why is FitzPatrick still living in the lap of luxury?

When will someone go to prison?

James Rogers
Rosslare, Co Wexford

Irish Independent
Monday September 06 2010

Why Callely's stupidity scares the body politic

Senator Ivor Callely is a non entity; he’s nothing more than an arrogant moron who doesn’t even possess the political intelligence necessary to get him out of his troubles.

But let there be no doubt, it is Callely’s political stupidity, his complete failure to understand and play by the rules of the corrupt political system that makes him so dangerous.

His failure to resign, his failure to accept the findings of the Seanad Members Interests Committee, his failure to respond quickly and effectively to the ongoing series of media revelations all continue to expose the rotten political system.

This is why politicians, from all parties, are in such a panic over Callely, why they hate him so much. His political stupidity is unwittingly exposing them, and the rotten system they so efficiently operate for their own benefit, to public scrutiny.

Let’s just look a one aspect of the corrupt system that has been exposed – Did Callely commit a criminal act when he falsely claimed €81,000 in travel expenses?

The Committee for Members Interests found that Callely had deliberately misrepresented his normal place of residence for the purpose of claiming allowances.

This action resulted in a loss to the taxpayer of €81,000 but the entire body politic is of the opinion that this particular act by Callely is not a criminal offence.

As far as members of Seanad and Dail Eireann are concerned Callely is guilty of nothing more than breaking the internal code of their exclusive club or as the committee’s report put it:

Not acting in good faith having regard to all of the circumstances.

They clearly believe that the alleged submission of false claims by Callely for €81,000 for travel expenses is not a criminal act and can therefore be dealt with as an in house breach of the rules.

On the other hand they believe that the alleged submission of false claims by Callely for €3,000 for mobile phones is a criminal act and should be dealt with by the Guards.

Here’s what two senators had to say on the matter

Independent senator Joe O’Toole (Marian Finucane Show, Sunday 22nd August).

It’s very important to know that a committee of the Seanad or of politicians should never be allowed, in a democracy, to investigate crimes…crimes should always be the business of the Gardai…if somebody is found to have committed a crime or is suspected to have committed a crime, that’s a matter for the Gardai.

It would be a banana republic if you put senators and TDs in charge of investigating a colleague with the power to penalties above and beyond what’s there.

This quote is slightly out of context but it’s clear that Senator O’Toole does not believe the committee was investigating a crime, he does not believe that Callely committed a criminal act when he falsely claimed €81,000 in travel expenses.

He does, apparently, believe that the alleged submission of a false claim by Callely for €3,000 for mobile phones is probably a criminal act and is therefore a matter for the Guards.

Independent senator Ronan Mullen’s reaction to the alleged false travel expenses claim by Callely for €81,000:

I find it hard to see where it could be made out that there was a criminal act per se. A person has to be judged according to the law as it stood at the time they did what they did.

During a recent RTE interview regarding the alleged false expenses claim by Callely for €3,000 for mobile phones Mullen said:

But we can park, at least, the criminal side of it and say let the proper authorities do their work and hopefully they will do their work and investigate it and let’s not do anything here to impede that.

Again, it’s clear that Mullen does not believe that Callely committed a criminal act when he falsely claimed €81,000 in travel expenses but does believe that the alleged submission of a false claim by Callely for €3,000 for mobile phones is probably a criminal act and is therefore a matter for the Guards.

The law on the matter is crystal clear (My emphasis).

Theft and Fraud Offences Act 2001 Section 10 (False accounting).

A person is guilty of an offence if he or she dishonestly, with the intention of making a gain for himself or herself or another, or of causing loss to another

(a) Destroys, defaces, conceals or falsifies any account or any document made or required for any accounting purpose,

(b) fails to make or complete any account or any such document,

or

c) in furnishing information for any purpose produces or makes use of any account, or any such document, which to his or her knowledge is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular.

(2) For the purposes of this section a person shall be treated as falsifying an account or other document if he or she—

(a) makes or concurs in making therein an entry which is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or

b) omits or concurs in omitting a material particular there from

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.

In a real democracy like the UK, for example, Senator Callely would be under police investigation.

Tory Peer, Paul White known as Lord Hanningfield is under police investigation for allegedly dishonestly submitting claims for expenses to which he knew he was not entitled.

It’s worth reproducing the UK law for comparison purposes (My emphasis).

section 17 of the Theft Act 1968

17. False accounting.

(1) Where a person dishonestly, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another,

(a) destroys, defaces, conceals or falsifies any account or any record or document made or required for any accounting purpose;

or

(b) in furnishing information for any purpose produces or makes use of any account, or any such record or document as aforesaid, which to his knowledge is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular; he shall, on conviction on indictment, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.

(2) For purposes of this section a person who makes or concurs in making in an account or other document an entry which is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or who omits or concurs in omitting a material particular from an account or other document, is to be treated as falsifying the account or document.

The law regarding the allegations in both jurisdictions is practically identical. In the UK it’s a matter for the police and the courts, in Ireland it’s a political matter.

In other words, it’s the difference between an accountable democracy and a banana republic.

The bottom line is simple: The corrupt political system in Ireland cannot allow a serious police investigation into political expenses because to do so would risk exposing the whole rotten system.

Copy to:

Seanad Committee for Members Interests

Callely: Questions and answers

Shortly after the Seanad Members’ Interests Committee found that Senator Callely had misrepresented his normal place of residence for the purpose of claiming allowances I rang Seanad Eireann with a number of questions.

I was asked to put my queries in writing and received answers last Friday.

Two of the more important questions/answers are reproduced below (My emphasis).

Question 1

The Committee found that Senator Callely was continuing to commit the offence of misrepresenting his place of residence in West Cork.

Who is responsible for rectifying this matter and is the matter being dealt with?

Answer

The Committee determined [paragraph 3 page 8 of the Select Committee on Members’ Interests of Seanad Eireann Report, dated 14th July 2010 ] that it is a matter for Senator Callely, in conjunction with the relevant authorities, to take account of the findings of its report and to regularise and make good his allowance affairs and to cease to misrepresent his normal place of residence.

On foot of that determination the Houses of the Oireachtas Service has written to Senator Callely informing him as to how the resolution of Seanad Eireann, of the same date, suspending him from the service of the House and withholding his salary for that period is being implemented by the Service and that his travel and accommodation expenses will not recommence unless and until the necessary declaration as to his normal place of residence has been submitted by him.

Question 2

It emerged during the course of the investigation that Senator Callely was claiming an overnight allowance while staying in his family home. When he was questioned about this matter he replied.

I comply with the regulations.

and

My claims, I understand, meet the definition of the Department of Finance.

Is Senator Callely correct in his claim that he is complying with the regulations and do his claims meet the definition of the Department of Finance?

Answer

Section 1 of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members ) Act 1962 as amended by the Oireachtas (Miscellaneous Provisions) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act 1996 and the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court office Act 1998 provides that “where a Member…..makes an overnight stay in the Dublin area…..the Member may …be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas an overnight allowance in respect of accommodation in the amount sanctioned by the Minister for Finance…”

There is no express legal prohibition on a Member making such an overnight stay in his family home.

There we have it in black and white. Irish politicians can claim overnight expenses while staying in the family home.

Given the low level of honesty within the body politic it is reasonable to assume that the vast bulk of politicians do, in fact, make this claim.

Only radical surgery will root out the malignant cancer

Irish Independent

Justice demands bankers in handcuffs

THE nation still waits and grows weary waiting for people to be charged for bankrupting our country.

How long does it take to read a file and make recommendations? What’s the delay in assembling the evidence?

Yes, it’s complex; yes, it’s time-consuming — but if there is a problem due to shortcomings in legislation or in the linking of a chain of criminal causation, the country should be told.

The endless silence is sapping the will of the people and having a corrosive effect on our democratic system.

Several people in America involved in the financial crisis of 2008 are serving jail terms.

Granted, Bernie Madoff pleaded guilty, thus saving the court’s time, but much work had to be done to bring him before the court.
In this country, by contrast, no file has even been presented to the DPP.

The general consensus among the people at large is a weary shrug of the shoulders and a fatalism that white-collar crime is never punished and that this is par for the course in Ireland.

There is a storm brewing beneath the surface that will shortly explode. The only thing that’s keeping the lid on it is the forlorn hope that some people in the future will be led away in handcuffs for destroying the economy and bankrupting future generations.

The Minister for Justice should give monthly bulletins on the progress of the different investigations and what the potential time span is for charges to be brought.

Talk about a whistleblower’s charter will not cut the mustard. If there is evidence of criminal conduct, then people need to face trial speedily.
The old maxim that justice delayed is justice denied is a two-way street.

It was coined with the rights of the defendant in mind but it could also be read as being a comfort to innocent bystanders that they would not have to wait in perpetuity for people to face prosecution.

This is not about revenge, it’s about decency and the rule of law. Attempts to spin the line that it is all behind us and so we should move on are dangerous.

The cancer that caused the patient to be put on life support needs to be cut out before the patient has any chance of healing.

Joseph Kiely
Donegal Town

That cancer is corruption within the administration of this country. That cancer is now so malignant that treatment (political reform) is pointless. Only radical surgery (revolution) will cure the patient.