Category: The State

Ireland: An intrinsically corrupt state

Many years ago, long before the economic catastrophe of 2008, I came to the conclusion that Ireland was an intrinsically corrupt state.

By ‘intrinsically corrupt’ I mean that there is no independent state authority capable or willing to bring those found, or suspected to be corrupt, to account.

As a result we witness, time after time, corrupt individuals, groups and organisations commit serious crimes with no fear whatsoever that they will be brought to justice.

State authorities simply do not act when certain categories of individuals or groups are suspected of corrupt practices.

For example, Irish Examiner journalist Michael Clifford, writing about the Lowry tapes scandal, is scathing of State authorities for their abject failure to act on the matter.

It’s worth reproducing the first few paragraphs of his article:

The controversy that has come to be known as The Lowry Tapes tells us much about what passes for democracy in this State.

The issue involves prima facie evidence that at least one crime may have been committed by serving TD and former government minister, Michael Lowry.

In a proper democracy, such as in Britain, this would be a matter for the police. The matter would be investigated and a file prepared for the state prosecuting body.

Thereafter, charges would either be preferred, or the matter dropped completely on the basis that there was no case to answer.

We don’t do things that way. Instead of a criminal justice process without-fear-or-favour, we have waffle; point scoring; a political culture that is concerned only with what interests the public, rather than the public interest; and a criminal justice system that freezes whenever a politician appears on its radar.

And it’s not just politicians who appear on the corruption radar that are, apparently, immune from any kind of accountability.

It’s also bankers, property developers, civil servants, auditors, members of the legal community, and any other group or individual operating within the protective embrace of our corrupt political system.

Clifford finishes his article by telling us that democratic accountability demands that state authorities properly deal with the Lowry Tapes allegations.

Unfortunately for Ireland and its people such demands will have no impact whatsoever. The system is too rotten, too dysfunctional and too corrupt to take any effective action.

Nothing short of a radical cleansing of the entire corrupt political and administrative system will suffice to put the country on the road to a properly functioning democracy.

Why should citizens remain loyal to a corrupt state?

Letter in today’s Irish Times.

This is a letter from a man who has been betrayed by our corrupt political system.

The key question he asks is:

Why should I go on being an honest taxpayer…to pay for the mistakes of corrupt politicians, greedy bankers and golden circles who scammed us since so-called independence?

How this question is answered will decide whether Irish citizens get a new republic free from corrupt gombeen politicians or sink ever deeper into poverty and despair.

Sir,

I filled in the online return for the local property tax on the same day that I received the Revenue’s letter telling me about my liability.

In good faith, I also gave it my bank account details so that it could deduct the amount due “no earlier than 21 July 2013” as stated on the website.

I have just been to my bank account and found that it deducted the property tax immediately.

Why should I go on being an honest taxpayer, coughing up hard-earned money for more than 40 years of my working life, paying every cent (and pingin before the euro) in income tax and PRSI and VAT and Dirt and youth levies and health levies and all the other taxes and levies and deductions, and now this house tax and the water tax next, in order to pay for the mistakes of corrupt politicians, greedy bankers and golden circle who have scammed us since so-called “independence”? Not to mention them putting their grubby fingers into my pension fund and levying that too.

Why? Why? Why?

If ageing, middle-class, quiescent, blameless citizens like me, who have never scammed a penny nor hidden a single nixer from the taxman, can get as deeply angry as I am right now at this final straw, then what hope is there that we can sort out the financial mess?

The very roots of participatory democracy are threatened when people like me finally make up our minds to give up on voting and paying tax and all the other duties that come with citizenship.

We are in perilous times indeed.

Yours, etc,
Tim O’Neill
Dublin 7.

Another attack by the State on freedom of expression

It is not at all surprising that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) is introducing draconian rules to further control the media by banning broadcasters from expressing a personal opinion.

The (free) media is, after all, the only power within the state that has the power and will to investigate and expose political and business corruption.

All so-called State law enforcement authorities, including the police, are entirely under the control of the body politic. We only have to look around to see how damaging that is for Ireland and its people.

RTE welcomed the new restrictions, which again, is not surprising as the station is already a fully compliant government broadcaster.

The response by TV3, which is probably seen by politicians as the most dangerous (free) media outlet, best sums up this latest government attack on freedom of expression.

The State now seeks through its regulator to control content on channels it does not own, limiting news and current affairs programming to arid lists of facts.

It prevents non-State broadcasters from having a different view from the State and thereby restricts essential roles of media as watchdog, as court of public opinion and as provider of informed analysis.

At best this is unnecessary ‘regulatory creep’, more harshly it could be called state censorship.

If such a code was introduced in countries like Russia or China it would be regarded as an attack on free media.

Corrupt system still supporting the vermin

In an article about the greed and hypocrisy of developer Sean Dunne Sunday Times journalist Justine McCarthy accurately outlines the complete failure of the state to reform the corrupt system that allows low life like Dunne to breed like rats.

The same support system that rendered them untouchable during the boom still prevails.

There has been no public banking inquiry, no debate about the probity of a legal system churning out gagging writs to suppress information; no investigation of the media’s sycophantic coverage of the property market and its players; no criticism of estate agents who acted hand in glove with developers; no sanctions for auditors who signed off on Walter Mitty-esque financial accounts; nobody from the ‘golden circle’ sent to jail.

Just a country full of worn-out citizens who have been punished, beyond endurance in some cases, for believing what they were told by Establishment Ireland.

The support system Ms. McCarthy speaks of is, to make it clear, the corrupt political/administrative system that has destroyed our country.

I would dispute just one detail with Ms. McCarthy.

The (corrupt) system that supports the vermin who rule our country is not a product of the boom years.

The rotten system has been sucking the life-blood out of Ireland and its people since, at least, 1979 when the criminal politician Haughey gained power.

The amazing two minds of Irish officialdom

There’s an excellent example in today’s Irish Examiner of how Irish officials can operate both inside and outside of reality at the same time.

This amazing ability allows Irish politicians and civil servants to break a law or rule and, at the same time in their minds, obey that very same law.

This case involved tendering rules surrounding procurement procedures by Waterford City Council.

An internal auditor’s report looked at €4.9 million worth of spending and found that proper procedures were not followed in €4.3 million of the expenditure.

But Waterford city manager Michael Walsh assured everybody willing to believe him that no companies were given work on the basis of favouritism.

I mean the very thought that the setting aside of rules specifically designed to prevent favouritism could be seen as an abuse of power is an outrage against the unquestionable honesty of all state officials.

No – Mr. Walsh provided a perfectly clear, honest and uniquely Irish explanation.

Bending the rules’ isn’t the language I would like to use. We weren’t fully compliant is the point the auditor is making… and I accept that.

I want to be clear about this, in the circumstances we very deliberately decided that we were not going to be fully compliant but we did ensure, I can assure you, that there was competitive tendering.

In fairness, you have to admire this ability to make two completely contradictory statements while, apparently, believing the substance of both.

Revenue judgement: Only efficient when dealing with the peasants

Revenue chairwoman Josephine Feehily has left citizens in no doubt whatsoever about how her organisation will deal with anybody who is tempted to dodge the upcoming property tax.

Revenue will ruthlessly bring to bear the full arsenal of laws at its disposal to enforce the new tax.

If necessary Revenue will deduct the tax directly from the salary, pension or bank accounts of those who fail to co-operate.

People can only judge for themselves Revenue’s record for pursuing people…We have very extensive data. We will pursue. We’ve done it in the past.

Well I’d like to accept Ms. Feehily’s invitation and judge her organisation’s record of pursuing people.

A report in last Sunday’s Independent reveals that not one person has been prosecuted over the Ansbacher tax criminality.

Ms. Feehily extends three excuses for her organisation’s disgraceful failure in bringing the Ansbacher white-collar criminals to account.

Excuse one: A lack of original documentation.

An essential requirement for a successful criminal prosecution is original documents. There were very few original documents available and there was no legal mechanism to compel Caymen entities to produce such documents.

This excuse is, of course, bullshit. There is a mountain of good quality evidence available to Revenue if it had a mind to prosecute.

The reason this good quality evidence has never been used is simple – it would most likely result in damaging the interests of very influential and powerful people.

Excuse two: Time elapsed has made prosecutions impossible.

Ms. Feehily:

While many cases passed the serious evasion test to be considered for prosecution, the time elapsed – typically in excess of 10 years since the alleged offence occurred – meant it would not be possible to mount a successful prosecution.

Ms. Feehily’s admission that many cases passed the serious evasion test for prosecution directly contradicts her first excuse re original documents.

The ‘time lapsed’ excuse is the most powerful strategy employed by state agencies when it comes to protecting influential and powerful people.

It is no accident, in my opinion, that almost every major white-collar scandal is strung out over many years in order to benefit from the ‘time lapse’ excuse.

Excuse three: Some of the criminals were too old or too dead.

Being too old will not be accepted as an excuse by Revenue for failing to pay the property tax. This excuse is strictly reserved for influential and powerful people.

Neither will death be accepted as an excuse. If an ordinary citizen undervalues his property and the property is sold on after his death the tax due, with interest, will be extracted from the new owners.

Influential and powerful people are exempt from such exacting laws. For example, when the criminal politician Haughey died his wealth was passed on to his family with no response from Revenue.

In functional democracies such ill-gotten wealth is heavily taxed or even seized outright.

Returning to Ms. Feehily’s invitation to people to judge Revenue’s record of pursuing people I think the following sums up what most ordinary people think.

The very fact that so called law enforcement agencies like Revenue and the Financial Regulator are incapable or unwilling to enforce the law when dealing with white-collar crime but are more than efficient in enforcing the law against ordinary citizens suggests that there is indeed one law for the rich and another for the peasants.

Copy to:
Revenue

Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan is a liar?

I agree with Emmet Stagg’s assessement of the ghost estate situation.

There’s no way the 43,000 estates that were previously deemed to be in such a state that they shouldn’t have to pay a €100 last year have now miraclously been transformed into a state where they’re ok.

Last year 43,000 houses were exempt from the household charge but, ‘miraclously’, that figure has dropped to a mere 5,100 this year.

Even if Ireland was a functional democracy with a world class administrative system that pulled out all the stops in order to rectify the ghost estate debacle it would still be impossible for such progress to be achieved in such a short period of time.

It is reasonable therefore to conclude that Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan is lying when she claims that the dramatic drop is a result of government action.

Irish citizens know, much to their cost, that a lying politician is a much more likely explanation for such claims rather than an efficient/competent administrative system.

Trinidad and Tobago: Ahead of Ireland in challenging corruption?

Thanks to Aidan for this link.

This talk by Afra Raymond of Trinidad and Tobago is an interesting contrast to the situation in Ireland in respect to corruption.

My impression is that Ireland is years behind countries like Trinidad and Tobago in its recognition and acceptance of the massive damage that can be inflicted by the disease of corruption.

PS:

TED Talks: Well worth a visit

Savita Halappanavar report: A great relief to all, except her family

Oh what a great relief.

It seems that the draft report investigating the death of Savita Halappanavar shows that there was ‘a great systems breakdown’ among the clinicians and medics at University Hospital Galway.

The relief will not, of course, apply to Ms. Halappanavar’s family who will be devastated.

But all those ‘responsible’ will be relieved that the great Irish solution of ‘systems failure’ has been utilised to ensure nobody is to blame.

Next scandal please…