Ireland: Still the Wild West when it comes to financial regulation

It has always been the view of Public Inquiry that Ireland is the Wild West when it comes to financial regulation.

And despite the fact that an almost complete lack of financial regulation played a major role in the destruction of our country there is still little or no regulation when it comes to financial activities.

This view is confirmed by a report on One News (8th report) today.

Researchers at Griffith University in Australia found Ireland among the easiest countries in the world in which to set up an untraceable shell company.

Shell companies, which have anonymous and untraceable owners, are often used by criminals and terrorist organisations to launder money.

It is illegal under Irish and international law to set up such a company.

The researchers contacted 3,700 corporate service providers in 62 countries enquiring about setting up shell companies.

Ireland was ranked 56th out of the 62 countries for the apparent ease with which researchers were able to find a provider willing to set up an untraceable shell company.

In a better performing country it took 25 or more different attempts by researchers to find a corporate service provider that would set up an untraceable shell company, in Ireland the figure was less than five.

In other words: Don’t mind about all that regulation/law stuff, we’ll deal with anybody, even terrorists, it seems.

Kevin O’Doherty Managing Director of Compliance Ireland, which specialises in advising firms on their legal responsibilities in this area, was not happy.

It’s a matter of concern.

That has to be the understatement of the year; he goes on:

We’re down there with the Philippines, Ghana and Kenya, which is not the sort of company we want to be with.

People will often throw insults at so-called tax havens but Jersey and the Cayman Islands were right up at the top with 100% compliance.

And that’s where we need to get Ireland Inc. playing. We don’t want people saying that our standards are actually quite shoddy.

Look at developing nations like Saint Kitts and Nevis and Albania scored way higher than Ireland.

And you would like to think we would have stronger controls and procedures in place.

The reference to Jersey and the Cayman Islands suggests that unlike these two islands, Ireland is not just an offshore tax haven but is also quite prepared to risk facilitating criminals and terrorists.

As for shoddy (financial regulation) standards, Ireland fully deserves to be ‘down there’ with the Philippines, Ghana, Kenya and Albania.

Like these countries, corruption in Ireland is not just an occasional event but is a normal and officially accepted part of how business is done.

Oddly enough, it’s the Department of Justice rather than the Central Bank that deals with this matter.

I phoned today to ask some questions but was told that those who deal with such matters don’t talk to the public.

All queries must be submitted in writing.

Copy to:
Department of Justice
Central Bank

Fionnan Sheahan: Roisin Shortall is a frustrated, disappointed, petulant politician who foolishly put herself out in the cold on the unimportant matter of standing by her principles

An article on Minister Shortall’s resignation by journalist Fionnan Sheahan in today’s Irish Independent could have been written by James Reilly himself.

The title of the article gives the first hint that Sheahan is not impressed with Ms. Shortall’s decision to resign on principle.

What did she hope to achieve by this?

Some more quotes from the article:

She’s now out in the cold.

She had ambitions to be a cabinet minister.

Her disappointment at being overlooked…was evident.

She felt frustrated at not being able to wield influence inside of Government.

Still, she was appointed to a reasonable junior ministry.

Her colleagues in Government were none too impressed by her petulant speech.

(The speech where she was critical of the Minister for Health).

Teeing it up as a point of principle on an issue her colleagues had moved on from.

There were few tears being shed within the coalition.

Ms Shortall merely joins the ranks of the disaffected Labour TDs.

Clearly, Mr. Sheahan is one of those journalists who have gone over to the dark side.

He, like most of the politicians he mixes with, has lost his understanding of the concept of principle.

Holding power at any cost is all that matters.

Shorthall resignation: Is it a glimmer of hope for Irish citizens?

Well done to Roisin Shortall. An Irish government minister resigning on a point of principle is a very rare event indeed.

Betrayed Irish citizens can only hope it’s the first glimmer of a change in the corrupt, gombeen culture of Irish politics.

And make no mistake about it; Health Minister James O’Reilly is a gombeen, stroke politician of the lowest order.

As is his fellow gombeen colleague Leo Varadkar who provided us with some hilarity in his attempts to sound ethical while defending gombeenism.

Asked by Sean O’Rourke if O’Reilly had engaged in stroke politics Varadkar replied:

It looks like it but I don’t know if it is or not.

Varadkar likes to see himself as one of the brave new wave of politicians who are going to change the way politics is done in Ireland.

Unfortunately, as he tries to sound honest and ethical he just can’t quite manage to pull away from the gombeen influence that he was weaned on.

And so he ends up being ridiculous by effectively claiming:

Yes, it is stroke politics (The brave new Varadkar).
But no, it’s not stroke politics (The gombeen Varadkar).

In the end politicians like Varadkar will have to make a choice, regress back fully into the mindset of gombeenism or follow the example of politicians like Ms. Shortall and stand on principle, whatever the cost.

Impressed and not impressed

I was impressed with a quote by an angry lady on the Frontline last night when the issue of property tax was being discussed.

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.

I was less impressed with the self-proclaimed hypocrite Luke Ming Flanagan when the issue of appropriate dress for TDs was being discussed.

It’s what you say and what you do (that’s important).

Indeed, and we all know Flanagan believes that supporting his friend, the tax fraudster Wallace, is more important than serving the national interest.

All citizens are equal but some are to be treated as diplomats – or else?

Former District Court judge Michael Patwell was recently interviewed by Charlie Bird. He had some interesting things to say.

Around 1966, while working in Customs and on duty at Dublin airport, he confiscated a number of undeclared items he had discovered in the luggage of a well-known sports personality.

A week later he was removed from his nice clean job in the airport and found himself in a boiler suit searching ships on Dublin docks.

Shortly afterwards he was summoned to Dublin Castle where he was given a lecture, reminded that his period of probation was nearly up and had his file ‘reviewed’. He was informed that he could be a little bit over enthusiastic.

It was made clear to him that some people who leave Ireland who are not diplomats were to be treated as if they were diplomats on their return.

The Inspector General of Customs at the time had a son deeply involved in the same sport as the man who had his items confiscated.

About a week after his interview Patwell checked with his colleagues at the airport and was told the man in question had been given back all the items confiscated and no record had been made of the incident.

Disgusted by the whole affair Patwell left Customs and got himself a job as a court clerk.

Isn’t that a great little statement?

Some people who leave Ireland who are not diplomats were to be treated as if they were diplomats on their return.

It really sums up how our corrupt little republic is (mis) governed.

It tells us that even in the 1960s there was an untouchable golden circle that enjoyed massive benefits at everybody else’s expense.

And, of course, that golden circle has grown into a deadly, state-destroying monster in the intervening years.

Have a question about TDs expenses? Get lost (peasant)

The following excellent letter on the issue of politician’s expenses appears in today’s Irish Times.

Sir,

I write to support the comments of Jason Power (September 22nd).

On August 28th, 2010 you published an opinion piece from myself detailing the history of our politicians’ expenses culminating in the “reformed” system introduced in March 2010.

To highlight just one aspect of the “reformed” system, TDs no longer had to submit detailed travel claim forms with receipts.

Instead they received generous round figure allowances depending on the distance of their home from the Dáil, paid monthly and tax free. These allowances are known as turning up money.

TDs living within normal commuting distance of the Dáil do extremely well.

Those living within 25km of the Dáil receive €12,000 per annum tax free, which is slightly more than the contributory old age pension for a year.

TDs living within 25km to 60km from the Dáil receive €28,106 tax free which is more than many workers earn gross in a year.

These payments are in effect untaxed salary. Allowing for income tax (41 per cent), PRSI (4 per cent) and USC (7 per cent) the payments equate to €25,000 gross for those receiving the €12,000 rate and €58,554 gross for those on the €28,106 rate.

Naively I assumed the new government would genuinely reform the expenses system, and at the very least end the scandal of those TDs living within normal commuting distance getting these travel payments while ordinary workers pay their own costs to work.

Eighteen months in government and no action; but our masters are actively considering curtailing the free travel enjoyed by OAPs!

I wrote to Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin earlier this year pointing out the conflict of interest politicians have in setting their own expenses, and offering to serve on a committee to recommend a proper system.

I stressed the public disquiet about the present system.

I was politely told to get lost.

Yours, etc,

Enid O’Dowd FCA,
Moyne Road,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.

Vulture capitalists, corrupt politicians and poverty

Wilbur Ross is a billionaire businessman who specialises in taking over, restructuring and selling on distressed businesses.

Some have referred to him as a grave dancer or vulture capitalist.

He is a key member of a consortium that bought 35% of Bank of Ireland last year to keep it out of state ownership. He personally owns 9% of the bank.

Mr. Ross is obviously a man who checks out every detail surrounding a venture before he commits large amounts of cash.

I assume therefore that the comments he made to George Lee about how well Ireland and its citizens are dealing with the current crisis are meant to encourage the markets while at the same time trying to convince Irish citizens that their situation is not so bad.

It’s very tough medicine but it’s necessary.

The Irish people understand that there’s a big problem, they understand there’s only one way out so as far as I can see they’re bravely gritting their teeth and they’ll get through it.

If Mr. Wilbur actually believes what he says then he’s not as well informed as he should be.

He might, for example, find it useful to listen back to a discussion between Marian Finucane and Irish Times columnist Conor Pope on the brutal reality facing a good percentage of Irish citizens.

Keeping in mind that the average industrial wage is €35,000 it has been found that to run a household, without being lavish, costs the average Irish family about €1,000 per week – after tax.

This figure does not include holidays, social life and expensive events like Christmas.

Neither does the figure include property tax, water charges, or the big increases recently announced for electricity and gas.

It does not take account of cutbacks and extra taxes and charges which are coming down the road in the December budget.

Recent research by the Irish League of Credit Unions found that 1.82 million adults say they have less than €100 per month to spend after bills have been paid.

It was also found that about 17% of adults, about 602,000 people, say they have absolutely nothing left for discretionary spending once the bills have been paid.

More than 150,000 people are unable to pay their mortgage and 300,000 are in negative equity.

About 300,000 are struggling to pay gas and electricity bills.

Wilbur Ross couldn’t be more wrong when he says the Irish people are gritting their teeth and getting on with it.

Irish citizens are still in transition from relative prosperity to a level of poverty not seen since the 1940s.

This catastrophe is entirely down to the corrupt political system that has ruled Ireland from at least the early 1980s and which still holds power today.

People like Wilbur Ross are ruthless businessmen coming in to suck as much blood as possible from the rotten carcass of the first republic which received its final and fatal blow from its corrupt political system on 29 September 2008.

Looking at the big picture Irish citizens have just two things to consider.

Are they going to meekly accept severe poverty for the coming three or four decades?

And

Are they going to allow the corrupt political system that brought them to such poverty to continue to exist?

Time will tell.

The curious case of Alibrandi's bank accounts

I see the former papal nuncio to Ireland archbishop Gaetano Alibrandi legged it out of the country in 1989 when it emerged that there were large amounts of unaccounted for money in three Irish bank accounts belonging to him.

What’s really curious about this affair is that it was the Department of Foreign Affairs that, apparently, challenged Alibrandi on the matter.

It’s curious because during the 1980s Ireland was an open sewer of corruption.

The criminal politician Haughey was busy plundering the nation’s wealth with the willing assistance of his business and political cronies.

Such corrupt schemes as Ansbacher and DIRT were in full swing and the banks were openly robbing the state and their customers as a completely normal part of their financial activities.

In other words; unaccounted for money in banks during the 1980s was a fully acceptable aspect of Irish culture.

So-called law enforcement authorities, who should have been doing what Department of Foreign Affairs personnel, were, apparently doing, simply held their collective noses as they stepped over the rotten sewer.

So why, I ask, did those gentle, nothing to do with law enforcement folk at the Department of Foreign Affairs, get all hot and bothered about poor old Albrandi’s accounts?

Of course I don’t know but I am certain of one thing.

It wasn’t because Irish authorities were so shocked at the discovery of a dodgy bank account that they asked Alibrandi to leave the country in case such practices were to infect the honesty of Ireland’s governing class.

'Catholic' shark performs miracle

A report in this week’s Irish Catholic tell of how a shark saved the life of a man lost at sea.

The article begins:

God appears to have worked ‘in mysterious ways’ for a fisherman adrift in the Pacific Ocean for over 100 days.

Toakai Teitoi and his brother-in-law were lost at sea when their boat ran out of fuel. After his brother-in-law died of dehydration Toakai began to pray for deliverance.

Weeks later, and still praying, Toakai heard a knocking on the hull and found that a shark was nudging his boat. The intervention by the shark led to Toakai noticing a ship close by and to rescue.

Toakai, a Catholic, said:

He was guiding me to a fishing boat.

Mmmm…perhaps this Catholic shark was acting under instructions from Toakai’s god but I think it’s more likely he was checking the menu.

Least likely thought going through the mind of the shark as Toakai was rescued:

Bless you my son and a safe journey home to your family.

Most likely thought:

Feck, he was a skinny specimen but would have made a nice snack.

EU Discussion: How corruption affects young people

Received a message from Meabh about a discussion taking place in the European Parliament in Brussels today (Discussion here). The discussion will centre on how corruption affects young people.

Corruption and fraud worsened the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. With more transparency, young people might not be suffering as much.
These are the thoughts behind the next Connect.Euranet debate that will take place in the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on September 19, 2012, at 12h00 CEST. Broadcasting live from the heart of the EP, students from the University of Vigo, Spain, Radio Moreeni of Tampere, Finland, Trinity FM Dublin and Radio Kampus Warsaw will ask MEPs and other VIPs what the EU is doing to tackle corruption in their institutions and across all member states.
People attending this debate.