Central Bank's secrecy could damage citizens interests

The following is an update on the matter of the Central Bank’s refusal to disclose even the most basic information regarding the latest scams in the Irish banking sector.

Those scams were:

Banks had charged thousands of homeowners the wrong interest rates on their mortgages.

Banks had misled customers with money in deposit accounts by promoting term and interest rates that were later changed once people signed up for the accounts.

Banks had short-changed thousands of customers on (other) interest rates.

The so called Financial Regulator (The Central Bank) is refusing to disclose even the most basic information regarding these scams.

This type of state secrecy can have potentially very serious consequences for citizens who may have dealings with these institutions.

As advised by an official in the Public Contacts Unit of the Central Bank I wrote to the bank requesting the following information.

Is it official policy not to name financial institutions that are guilty of such activities?

Is the policy in writing, and if so, where can it be located?

If the policy is not in writing where and by whom did it originate and how is it communicated to Central Bank staff?

The Central Bank replied:

Due to the confidentiality requirements imposed by domestic and EU legislation which provides for confidentiality of information relating to ongoing supervision and limits disclosure to circumstances specifically provided for in the Central Bank Act 1942(as amended) we are prohibited from releasing supervisory information regarding any institution.

I would draw you attention in particular to Section 33AKof the Central Bank Act 1942 (as amended).

Yours sincerely

My response;

Dear…

I will give you the benefit of doubt and assume you are an intelligent person, a benefit you clearly do not extend to me judging from the content of your email.

You will be aware that Irish banks and other financial institutions have been plundering customers and state accounts for many decades with complete impunity.

Despite this fact not a single financial institution or official has ever been charged with a crime since the establishment of our state in 1922.

This can only mean that Irish financial institutions are among the most honest in the history of the world or financial regulation in Ireland is not seen as an integral part of democratic accountability as it is in real democracies.

A person with even a smidgeon of intelligence can see that the latter is the case.

Your organisation is refusing to name the institutions, the number of customers or the level of funds involved in this latest fraud on Irish citizens.

No other country in the world, not even the most corrupt banana republic, would refuse such basic information to its citizens.

Let me be blunt, your organisation is, effectively, protecting the thieving vermin that infest the Irish financial sector at the expense of Irish citizens.

I look forward to the day, hopefully very soon, when the people who make and enforce such Soviet style secrecy laws are stripped of their power and influence.

I have no doubt whatsoever that the great majority of ordinary Irish citizens are of the same view.

Yours sincerely
Anthony Sheridan

Comrade Madam sticks it to Varadkar

Question:

Did the following comments emanate from the Propaganda Minister of North Korea or the editor of the Irish Times?

A coalition of two parties in government should speak only with a united voice…The Government must articulate only one policy position, the collective view that Ministers have already agreed and accepted…the role of other Ministers is to reflect and defend government policy…It is not to make policy themselves or to misrepresent the Government view by failing to inform themselves properly.

Today’s Irish Times editorial also sees that organisation boarding the ‘Europe is to blame for all our troubles’ bandwagon.

As the euro zone debt crisis has unfolded, Ireland has lost credibility and sustained major reputational damage at various levels, government, public service, banking and business.

The party line here is clear: The destruction of our country has nothing whatsoever to do with our corrupt political/administrative systems, somebody else is to blame.

Oh well, at least Lehman Brothers are off the hook.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland: 'There are no Spanish cucumbers in Ireland'

16 people have died and hundreds are seriously ill as a result of the deadly E. coli outbreak in Europe.

It is suspected that cucumbers from Spain caused the outbreak.

Irish citizens are more at risk than other Europeans when such outbreaks occur simply because our so called regulatory agencies are so incompetent and, in some cases, seem to operate with other interests in mind.

Here’s how the deadly E. coli outbreak was handled by the so called Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) as reported on RTE News today.

Yesterday, Professor Alan Riley from the FSAI told an RTE reporter that cucumbers in all Irish stores were sourced from Irish and Dutch producers.

This statement, from a so called informed authority, could have resulted in many Irish consumers eating contaminated cucumbers.

Shortly after Riley’s statement RTE received several calls from members of the public who had Spanish cucumbers in their fridges and were very concerned.

It was also reported that SuperValu, Dunnes Stores and Lidl had removed (the non existent FSAI?) Spanish cucumbers from their shelves as a precautionary measure.

So, will we get answers from the FSAI? Will we get accountability from the FSAI? Will anybody be fired for potentially putting the public in danger?

There’s as much chance of that as there is of Sean Fitzpatrick ending up behind bars.

See here for a previous incident involving the FSAI which could potentially have put the public in danger.

Copy to:
FSAI

Absolute statements

George Bush Snr.

Read my lips; no new taxes.

Bill Clinton

I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

Brian Cowen

We are not in negotiation with the IMF.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter

Crisis? What is the crisis?

Taoiseach, Enda Kenny

Let me say with absolute clarity there would be no need for a second bailout.

Celtic Tiger to follow the Asian Miracle?

The first of a very interesting three-part series, All watched over by machines of loving grace, was broadcast by BBC 2 last Monday (9.00pm).

The programme analyses the idea that humans have been colonised by their machines.

Last week’s show focused on the part played by computers in global finances and, as an example, analysed the rise and fall of the Asian Miracle, a property boom almost identical to that in Ireland. It made for chilling viewing.

When developers defaulted on their loans Western investors panicked and rushed to take their money out of the countries involved.

The IMF eventually intervened with massive loans to stabilise the situation but at a price. The countries involved were forced to turn themselves into models for the Free Market which meant cutting government spending and getting rid of corruption and nepotism in the ruling elites.

Unfortunately, the IMF programme only worked in the short term. Eventually, currencies collapsed, in some cases, losing up to 80% of their value. Economic ruin led to rioting and looting bringing some states to the brink of anarchy.

The principal aim of the IMF intervention was, apparently, to rescue Western investors, not individual countries. The bill was, ultimately, placed on the shoulders of ordinary and mostly poor taxpayers.

Prices soared as economic output plummeted resulting in millions falling back into the poverty they thought they had escaped forever. The crisis triggered widespread ethnic and religious strife.

The parallels with Ireland are obvious; it’s just that we haven’t yet reached the end of our particular road.

The countries involved were very angry with the way they were treated by the IMF and Western investors and have pledged never again to allow themselves become the victim of such naked greed.

The resources of these countries are many multiples of those available to Ireland so they are likely to succeed in their ambition to determine their own destiny.

Ireland has few resources, is still hamstrung by a deeply corrupt political/administrative system and is desperately vying for crumbs from an increasingly crisis ridden EU economic system.

We are, as Morgan Kelly predicted, more and more dependent on the kindness of strangers.

Seanad Eireann: Dead as a dodo

Irish Times columnist Deaglan de Breadun was very impressed with the contribution of Senator David Norris during the first session of the newly elected Senate, vintage stuff, de Breadun commented.

Some people are easily impressed.

Senator Norris pompously compared the parochial, elitist club that is Seanad Eireann with the Roman Republic and its senate.

As if there was even the remotest link between the greatness of ancient Rome and the activities of a crowd of gombeen bog trotters labouring under the delusion that they live in an accountable democracy.

Senator Norris went on to make the following comment which confirms that he and his fellow senators occupy a fantasy realm completely divorced from reality.

It is our responsibility by reason of our privileged position not to encourage the notion that we are a special class. Politicians are merely ordinary people who have taken on an extra burden of responsibility on behalf of the wider community. We should not see ourselves or behave as if we were an elite.

Apparently, the great hope for the new senate is the vision and determination of its new members. Here’s part of what new Senator and economics lecturer at Trinity Senator Sean Barrett had to say in his maiden speech.

We will have to show that this senate will make a difference. We will have to provide checks, balances, and scrutiny and accountability tests on all of those people who have brought this country to the desperate economic situation in which we find ourselves.

So, this completely useless and powerless institution, which is an integral part of our corrupt political/administrative system, is going to bring those who destroyed our country to justice?

Senator Barrett, with flags flying and guns blazing, is not only going to take on the indolence, arrogance and incompetence of Seanad Eireann but he’s also going to put the frighteners on the entire ruling elite who have so successfully protected the corrupt traitors responsible for impoverishing the people of Ireland.

Best of luck on that one Senator.

There was, however, one glimmer of hope.

After just two-and-a-half hours listening to his fellow senators, newly elected Labour Senator John Whelan commented:

They spent most of their time talking either about themselves or their local parish pump issues. It was a total mess of back-slapping, wind-baggery and hot air.

Senator Walsh, who obviously breathes the same air as ordinary people, said that Seanad Eireann was ‘dead as a dodo’ and should be abolished as swiftly as possible.

I suspect the vast majority of Irish citizens would agree and cannot wait to get their hands on that ballot paper.

Noelle Campbell-Sharp: A very stupid woman

From the Attic Archives.

Sunday Independent 28th September 2003

Arts Council member says forgive CJH

It is time to forgive Charles of Haughey because he is a great man who has given so much, said new Arts Council member, Noelle Campbell-Sharp.

The former publisher, a self-confessed admirer of the former Taoiseach, said all great men deserve to be forgiven much.

In an interview with the October edition of the Dubliner magazine, she said:

I can forgive him his peccadilloes. When you are a student of greatness, you have to forgive these people their human frailties.

It’s because they have given so much more than others, she said.

We forgive people all the time, Roy Keane, Louis Walsh, it’s just because this nasty little word, money, is involved that we all get uptight.

Money shouldn’t be that important.

There’s no way such a mindset can be analysed. All that can be said is – Noelle Campbell-Sharp is a very stupid woman.

Thieving banks still enjoy full state protection

Since the economy collapsed in 2008, politicians, the Financial Regulator and various other government authorities have been telling the Irish people that the days when financial institutions could rob customers without fear of prosecution were over.

From now on, they said, the law will be enforced. Stringent new laws would ensure that such criminal activities would never again occur, that Irish citizens could rest easy in their beds in the knowledge that the state and its enforcement agencies were protecting them.

Of course, all the talk was nothing more than the usual tissue of lies we have come to expect from those who claim to work in the best interest of the citizens of Ireland.

The following scams were reported in the media last week (Irish Independent).

Banks had charged thousands of homeowners the wrong interest rates on their mortgages.

Banks had misled customers with money in deposit accounts by promoting term and interest rates that were later changed once people signed up for the accounts.

Banks had short-changed thousands of customers on (other) interest rates.

It’s at this point Irish citizens would expect to see the many promises come to fruition, that they would expect to see justice done, to see transparency and accountability.

Here’s what they got:

The Central Bank, the so called Financial Regulator, refused to name the financial institutions involved, refused to specify the number of customers involved and refused to disclose the level of funds involved.

This absolute refusal to disclose even the most basic information is of great benefit to the thieving banks and is, potentially, very destructive for Irish citizens.

A spokesman for the Central Bank arrogantly dismissed all queries by declaring: It is not the practice of the Central Bank to name and shame.

I rang the Central Bank and spoke to an official in the hilariously named Public Contacts Unit. I wanted to know why such basic information was being kept secret from the public.

Because it would not be in the public interest and it is a corporate or private matter between the Central Bank and the companies that they regulate.

Ultimately, what happened was that these people were refunded so, this might sound a bit stupid, but the fact that these people were compensated and corrections were made to their accounts the wrongdoing as such has been rectified and catered for and the acts themselves have stopped.

After picking myself up off the floor and gaining control of my hysterical laughter I asked the obvious question: How could the keeping secret of the names of the thieving bankers be in the public interest?

He replied:

Well, I’d like to withdraw that, it may not be factually correct.

This official was unable/unwilling to provide me with any further answers and ‘helpfully’ gave me an email address (of his own unit as it turned out) where I could follow up on my queries.

To be continued…

Talk, even genuine, patriotic talk, will not change the status quo

I have nothing but admiration for people like Fiach Mac Conghail of We the Citizens and those involved in setting up The Citizens Assembly. They are, unlike the bulk of Irish citizens, including myself, taking action to create a truly democratic country.

Unfortunately, they are too late. The old corrupt Republic of Ireland came to an ignominious end on 29th September 2008 when the Fianna Fail/Green Party government handed over all our assets and our children’s future to bail out the corrupt bankers.

Many people blame the bankers for the disaster that has occurred, this is a mistake. No banker, developer or any other organisation or individual could have acted as they did without the full cooperation of a corrupt political system.

That corrupt political system is still in place, still protecting the corrupt, still betraying the best interests of the Irish people.

Nothing will change until that corrupt system is totally destroyed and replaced by a truly democratic system.

Representatives of We the Citizens and other groups attempting to rescue our failed state featured on The Late Debate (Tuesday).

There was a great deal of debate about debate, a great deal of discussion about how our systems can be reformed.

It is all to no avail, our country is a failed entity. Nothing less than a complete clear-out of all the political, administrative and regulatory systems that have betrayed the people of Ireland will do if we are to create a proper democracy.

Organisations like We the Citizens and The Citizens Assembly will fail because of one glaring flaw, they are all talking shops. Talking shops full of genuine, enthusiastic, patriotic people but talking shops none the less.

They carry out their business within four walls; they will not be conducting angry street marches and therefore will pose no real challenge to the political/administrative status quo.

The corrupt political/administrative system will pat them on the head; praise them for their high ideals and then ignore them.

Just as I was despairing of all the talk about talk a woman in the audience, Sarah, a youth worker with Spunout.ie, cut through all the discussion with the truth (my emphasis).

I’ve been at Reset Ireland, The Ireland/Iceland project, Claiming our Future and We the Citizens where there has been lots of discussion.

But I have come to believe that we will not achieve any significant political change through polite little initiatives that operate within the current status quo. We just won’t do it, it hasn’t happened anywhere else.

In every other country where they have achieved such political change it has been because of a prior rejection of the status quo on the part of the people.

We have had no such rejection in Ireland; change will only come about by rejecting the systems that have failed us

Good woman Sarah, I couldn’t have put it better myself.

The current ruling elite will never give up their power until it is taken from them and all the talking in the world will not change that fact.