Showing posts with label GARDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GARDA. Show all posts

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

GOD SAVE IRELAND ON A GAY PADDY'S DAY

)

                                                     


IRELAND SUFFERS SHARPEST DROP ON CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX IN ITS HISTORY

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PERCEIVEs government of IRELAND MORE CORRUPT THAN third world


A global index measuring perceptions of corruption in 176 countries gives Ireland its worst ever ranking and suggests that corruption is a bigger problem here than in some developing nations including Uruguay and the Bahamas. Ireland is now ranked in 25th place in the Corruption Perceptions Index conducted annually by Transparency International (TI). The worst performing countries are Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are perceived to be the least corrupt countries of those surveyed.
The index is one of the most commonly used measures of political risk and is used by credit risk agency Standard and Poor’s to assess the likelihood of sovereign debt default. According to John Devitt, Chief Executive of TI Ireland, ‘If investors believe government decisions are being swayed by political or private gain, it could have a harmful effect for our economic recovery. Small, open economies are much more exposed to reputational risk than their more powerful counterparts. Risk-averse and politically aware investors will also look elsewhere when deciding where to locate or do business if they suspect that favoured businesses and government are in bed with one another’.    
The poor results come after a succession of political controversies. The Moriarty and Mahon Tribunals published negative findings against politicians and business people after 15 year-long investigations into corruption and payments to government ministers. There was further controversy a year after the publication of the final Moriarty Tribunal report when the Taoiseach shared a platform at Wall Street with Denis O’Brien, a leading businessman linked to clandestine payments to the former minister for communications, Michael Lowry. Mr Lowry was found to have influenced the award of the second mobile phone licence to Mr O’Brien’s consortium in 1995. 
‘Ireland’s ranking shows how little faith investors have in our ability to prevent the abuse of power. Our failure to hold people to account for wrongdoing is also having a negative impact on international perceptions of Ireland. There appears to have been very little action taken on foot of the publication of the final Moriarty Tribunal report, while The Taoiseach’s decision to make public appearances with Denis O’Brien after the publication of the report will have done our international reputation no favours’, said Mr Devitt.
TI Ireland recently published a European Commission-sponsored report which acknowledged the progress the Irish Government had made in reforming corruption law and ambitious plans to protect whistleblowers. However, the anti-corruption group has warned against delaying further commitments to clean up public life. It has also highlighted the Government’s failure to implement reforms aimed at promoting transparency in the public sector and sharing more power with the Oireachtas.
‘We will still attract companies looking to avail of our low tax rate, but our reputation for cronyism and other forms of corruption will drive many honest businesses towards more open and well regulated economies’, Mr Devitt added.
Background
This year Transparency International has updated the methodology for the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012. To reflect this, the Corruption Perceptions Index is presented on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The change in methodology is not believed to have significantly impacted on Ireland’s ranking or score. 
This year’s index ranks 176 countries/territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The index draws on 13 surveys covering expert assessments and surveys of businesspeople. The Corruption Perceptions Index is the leading indicator of public sector corruption, offering a yearly snapshot of the relative degree of the corruption problem by ranking countries from all over the globe.
A 2008 Pricewaterhouse Coopers survey found that 45 per cent of businesses have been deterred from investing in a country because of its reputation for corruption.
TI Ireland estimated in 2009 that Ireland could be losing €1 billion a year in foreign direct investment because of its relatively low position in the Corruption Perceptions Index. Ireland has slipped 11 places in the index since then.
In 2011, Ernst & Young reported that a ‘significant number’ of Irish professionals believed it was acceptable to win business by using inducements. The Ernst & Young European Fraud survey found that ‘over a quarter of all senior managers and over a third of employees confirmed that activity including offering personal gifts, offering free entertainment and even offering cash payments was acceptable in order to win or retain new business’.
According to the Eurobarometer survey for 2012, 86 per cent of Irish people said corruption is part of Ireland’s business culture, compared to the much lower EU average of 67 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund has identified a link between unfettered influence brought to bear on the regulation of financial services and the current international financial crisis. It found a statistical correlation between lenders who engaged with policy-makers most intensively on issues of mortgage lending, and those who were most negatively affected during the current crisis. These lenders had looser lending standards measured by loan-to-income ratio, greater tendency to securitise, and faster-growing mortgage loan portfolios. The authors of the IMF report concluded that preventing a future crisis might require weakening the political influence of the financial industry or greater transparency in how public policy is influenced.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Ireland, Ireland

Friday, 28 February 2014

SHITTER ISLAND IS FULL happy Paddy's Day !






Tags

See other tags

Criminal lawyer to interview McCabe over garda misconduct claims

Seán Guerin is tasked with examining the whistleblower’s claims that gardaí mishandled a number of cases.

18 hours ago 6,719 Views  16 Comments
THE GOVERNMENT HAS this evening released the terms of reference for criminal lawyer Seán Guerin’s inquiry into allegations of garda misconduct made by whistleblower Maurice McCabe with the aim of concluding the investigation within eight weeks.
McCabe claims a number of cases were mishandled by gardaí and that Justice Minister Alan Shatter was aware of this.
Guerin is to conduct an independent examination of the cases to see if there are grounds for the establishment of an Commission of Investigation.
The terms of reference published this evening are as follows:
  • To conduct an independent review and undertake a thorough examination of the action taken by An Garda Síochána pertaining to certain allegations of grave deficiencies in the investigation and prosecution of crimes, in the County of Cavan and elsewhere, made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe as specified in:
a) the dossier compiled by Sgt Maurice McCabe and furnished to An Taoiseach on the 19th February 2014 and
b) the letter understood to be from Sgt Maurice McCabe to the Confidential Recipient, Mr Oliver Connolly, dated 23 January 2012 , part of which was furnished to An Taoiseach on the 21st day of February 2014.
  • To interview Sgt Maurice McCabe and any other such person as may be considered necessary and capable of providing relevant and material assistance to this review in relation to the aforesaid allegations and to receive and consider any relevant documentation that may be provided by Sergeant McCabe or such other person.
  • To examine all documentation and data held by An Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice and Equality, and any other entity or public body as is deemed relevant to the allegations set out in the documents at 1(a) and (b) above.
  • To communicate with An Garda Síochána and any other relevant entity or public body in relation to any relevant documentation and information and to examine what steps, if any, have been taken by them, to investigate and resolve the allegations and complaints contained in the documentation referenced at 1(a) and (b) above.
  • To review the adequacy of any investigation or inquiry instigated by An Garda Síochána or any other relevant entity or public body into the incidents and events arising from the papers furnished at 1(a), 1(b) and 2 above.
  • To consider if, taking into account relevant criminal, civil and disciplinary aspects, there is a sufficient basis for concern as to whether all appropriate steps were taken by An Garda Síochána or any other relevant entity or public body to investigate and address the specified complaints.
  • To advise, arising from this review, what further measures, if any, are warranted in order to address public concerns including whether it is considered desirable in the public interest for the Government to establish a Commission of Investigation pursuant to the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 and, if so, the matters to be investigated .
  • At the conclusion of the aforesaid review, within eight weeks of 27th February, 2014 or so soon as may be thereafter, to deliver a Report to An Taoiseach on the matters set out at 1, 5, 6, and 7 above.
The government said today these terms were agreed on the advice of the Attorney General.

Read: ‘Experienced criminal lawyer’ to examine garda whistleblower’s dossier of allegations>




MPs summon security services watchdog over Snowden leaks

Sir Mark Waller, intelligence services commissioner, has repeatedly refused to address home affairs select committee
Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee i
Keith Vaz, chairman of the committee, said it was disappointed by Sir Mark Waller's refusal to attend. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian
A security services watchdog, Sir Mark Waller, has been summoned to appear before MPs after he repeatedly refused to appear to answer their questions over the Edward Snowden leaks and other counter-terrorism issues.
Waller, who is the intelligence services commissioner, has refused to appear before the Commons home affairs select committee in a rare clash over the parliamentary accountability of Britain's intelligence agencies.
The summons was issued at midday on Thursday and is a rare move by a parliamentary committee which has the power to send for people and papers. The order to appear on 18 March was approved without a vote on the committee.
Waller is one of two former senior judges charged with the oversight of the security services, including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, which have been at the centre of disclosures over the US National Security Agency's mass digital surveillance programmes.
The other retired judge, Sir Anthony May, is responsible specifically for oversight of the interception capabilities of the security services. He told the committee earlier that the 570,000 requests a year for communications data by public authorities was "possibly too large".
Keith Vaz, the chairman of the committee, said: "The intelligence services commissioner plays a vital role in keeping under review the way in which the home secretary and the intelligence services use the powers which they have been granted by parliament. This function was conferred on the commissioner by act of parliament, and Sir Mark must be accountable to parliament for the way in which he carries them out.
"Both the information commissioner and the interception of communications commissioner have accepted invitations to give evidence to the committee in the last few weeks. We do not see why the intelligence services commissioner should be any different and the committee was disappointed by his refusal to attend.
"Sir Mark has referred us to his published report. While the information in this report is useful to the committee, effective parliamentary scrutiny requires the opportunity to ask questions and receive full answers.
"We have therefore taken the unusual step of summoning Sir Mark. This happens only very rarely, where an essential witness declines to appear in response to an invitation. Indeed, it is the only time that this committee has summoned a witness in this parliament," he said.
The clash comes a fortnight after the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called for a major overhaul of the oversight of Britain's intelligence services, including reform of the commissioners' roles as part of his campaign against "unaccountable power".
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,
Ireland, Ireland
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)