It has always been the core claim of Public Inquiry that Ireland is an intrinsically corrupt state.
This claim is based on the fact that, unlike functional democracies, the Irish political system does not recognise or act against powerful and influential people when they are found to be involved in corruption.
This is not an opinion, it is a verifiable fact that can be confirmed by simply taking a look at how the endless incidences of corruption over the last four decades were or were not dealt with.
The acceptance of corruption as a normal part of Irish political life by the body politic has resulted in the disease spreading into every area of public and private life.
In particular, the spread of the disease into the administrative, regulatory, banking/financial/business sectors has resulted in very serious damage to the best intersts of Ireland and its people.
No action whatsoever has been taken to eradicate the disease for one simple but deadly reason.
The current body politic, that introduced and allowed the disease to fester, is still in power and is still putting its own interests and the interests of its friends and supporters before the interests of the Irish people.
The Wallace corruption scandal is just the latest example of how the corrupt system protects its own and demonstrates how the disease has negatively affected other sectors of socitey like the media and ordinary citizens.
Every incidence of political corruption that has gone unpunished, big and small, over the past four decades or so has chipped away at the credibility, trustworthiness and moral worth of those who inhabit the ruling body politic.
The system has become so corrupt, so dysfunctional that even those independents, elected by the Irish people in a desperate cry for even a semblance of honesty and accountability, have abandoned the people in favour of the corrupt system.
The credibility, honesty and trustworthiness of Irish politicians now stands at zero.
The damage they are causing to Ireland and its people is immense and ongoing.
While the Wallace corruption scandal is just the latest in a long line of such incidences it is worth analysing in detail because it clearly exposes what Public Inquiry has been claiming for many years – Ireland is an intrinsically corrupt state.
Let’s start with Wallace’s admission on live radio that he knowingly broke the law, that is, he knowingly carried out a corrupt act.
I under declared the VAT in the hope that…
What do you mean you under declared the VAT?
When I sent in the VAT returns I didn’t declare all the VAT I owed because I would have been put out of business there and then.
By accident or on purpose?
On purpose.
I made what I thought, even though it was illegal, I thought it was the right thing to do
These are the words that law enforcement agencies, politicians, ordinary people and, indeed, Mick Wallace himself should focus on and nothing else.
Once the ramifications of Wallace’s admission of illegality are dealt with, once the State, on behalf of the people, have brought him to justice, then the nation can indulge in endless analysis on the pros and cons of his behaviour.
Sadly, because Ireland is an intrinsically corrupt state, because there’s hardly a single politician with enough courage or integrity to stand up for Ireland and its people, no action will be taken against this renegade politician.
And because of that the people of Ireland will continue to suffer from the destructive disease of corruption.
Copy to:
Mick Wallace
All political parties
Independent TDs
Included below the Wallace interview of 7th June on Morning Ireland.
How are you going to pay the 2.1 million to owe to the taxman?
At the moment the company would be deemed insolvent and since the ACC moved on us in October and got this €19.4 million judgement agaisnt us we have been unable to get work
Up to that point I had been in an agreement with Revenue. I had made the declaration back in 2010 and I was paying so much a month.
But after ACC moving on us we were no longer able to get work so it’s unlikely that Revenue will get the money.
So you don’t think this money will be paid?
That would be my honest opinion.
Where does that leave you as a TD?
Well, Mick Wallace and Wallace Construction are two separate entities.
Mick Wallace does have a tax clearance cert, Wallace Construction doesn’t.
To the best of my understanding of the law Mick Wallace is allowed to have a tax clearance cert provided his tax affairs are completely in order which they are on a personal level.
Is this not your company?
It is my company, yes.
So how can you separate the two?
Well, if you understand company law. Wallace Construction, a limited company of which I am the managing director of and Mick Wallace the private individual is a separate entity. T
hat’s just the law, I didn’t make it up.
Do you believe that your are in any way personally liable for this €2.1 million tax bill?
I do feel responsible for it, I do not feel good about it.
Owing money to banks who took gambles by giving me the money the same as I took gambles by borrowing it…and I’m far from proud to be owing the Revenue money.
I had a very successful business, I didn’t go mad. A banking crisis arrived and my property value dropped dramatically.
I did my best to try and keep the company afloat. I could have just thrown the keys at the banks and everybody else at the time and walked away from it. It has been very difficult trying to keep it going but I tried but I have failed.
The economic crisis has proved too much for my company.
Just to be clear, the settlement that we’re referring to and when we say settlement that’s an agreement on a figure rather than the bill actually being paid, is this settlement with the company or with you?
With the company. The story behind the money was €1.4 million in VAT. I sold apartments and the money that was coming in all went to the banks because the deposits had originally been used for ongoing business and the money wasn’t there for the VAT because the banks were taking their maximum, we weren’t able to pay it.
I under declared the VAT in the hope that…
What do you mean you under declared the VAT?
When I sent in the VAT returns I didn’t declare all the VAT I owed because I would have been put out of business there and then.
By accident or on purpose?
On purpose. Obviously I was wrong to do so but I did so thinking that I could pay the VAT the following year.
If I had put it down at the time I would have been put out of business there and then. There wouldn’t have been any deals with the Revenue at that time.
I thought I could save the company and pay my VAT the following year but obviously when you’ve reached the point where I felt that that prognosis wasn’t going to work I made my declaration to the Revenue.
The Revenue came in then and examined all our books and they found that the declaration we made was accurate and then we asked to try continue trading and agreed that we would pay so much a month and that we did for over a year up to the point where ACC took the judgement against me in November 2011.
The €19.4 million people just to remind people.
Yes, and that was an end to the company because we were no longer solvent and were finished trading.
How many people apart from you are liable to pay the €2.1 million bill to Revenue, are there other directors involved?
No, just myself.
What would you say to people listening to you saying you owe €2.1 million to the taxman, that you knowingly declared a false VAT declaration, are you a fit person to remain in the Dail?
Well, obviously I believe I am. I acknowledge I was wrong but I did it in good faith.
I really did believe that I would have been able to pay the VAT and I was trying to save the company.
I had 60 people working for me, I was trying to save their jobs, I was dealing with four banks that were putting incredible pressure on me. It was a difficult decision to make at the time.
I made what I thought, even though it was illegal, I thought it was the right thing to do.
In hindsight it would have been better if I had just let the company go at the time.