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MINISTER FOR HEALTH Simon Harris has admitted that neither he nor the government can express confidence in the State’s corporate watchdog.
A new anti-corruption agency could be considered by the Dáil, he said, and the government should have backed an anti-corruption bill by the Social Democrats.
Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week In Politics, the minister was asked about the government’s role in the collapse of the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chair Sean FitzPatrick.
The court case collapsed last week after it emerged that the State’s corporate watchdog, the Office for the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), contaminated evidence by coaching key witnesses and shredding evidence.
Harris acknowledged the role of the state in the collapsed trial, but said that as far as he knew, the ODCE had told the government that they had adequate resources.
The question is how does the ODCE interact with the courts, and with the Director of Public Prosecutions. I cannot, and the government cannot, express confidence in this office.
He admitted that his government should have backed the Social Democrats’ anti-corruption bill, but that that alone would not have stopped the collapsing of the Sean FitzPatrick trial.
Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said in the Dáil that the handling of the investigation into Sean FitzPatrick was like ‘a Monty Python sketch’.
Róisín Shortall, joint-leader of the Social Democrats called for the establishment of a new wide-ranging law enforcement agency to tackle white collar crime.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell-O’Connor has ordered the ODCE to issue a report into their failings, and said that ‘nothing is off the table’ in relation to the repercussions they could face.
RTÉ’s This Week programme reports today that the ODCE had notified the garda commissioner that they needed three gardaí to aid their investigation, but that none were available.
“There are 13,000 gardaí – the notion that you couldn’t find three gardaí to give to the ODCE is incredible,” Labour leader Brendan Howlin told the programme.
He said that there are serious doubts now about whether the ODCE is fit for purpose.
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Not Only in America.
That’s because there are guns in countries other than USA.
There are and in some countries Gun ownership per capita is as high.
In Switzerland the country is awash with guns.
What these countries do not have is a mindset where Guns are used to solve problems, especially when you are angry or feel slighted.
The modern American attitude to guns, to society etc is the root of its problems.
Exactly John, Switzerland is awash with guns. There’s less gun crimes in Switzerland exactly because of this, good people all carry guns to defend themselves so criminals are scared. The best solution to a bad guy is good guys carrying guns
Oh let me see now Alan if that guy hadn’t got a gun 3 people would still be alive, go figure?
And unlike US, Switzerland doesn’t have any of the world’s most notorious gangs who mainly consist of illegals from south and central America. More of a reason for good guys to have guns.
Of course, Switzerland, despite its cohesive social structure, still has the highest rate of gun related homicide in Western Europe, with a few incidences of mass massacres by disaffected individuals.
Many factors influence the rate of gun related homicides. It is facile, obtuse and dishonest to deny prevalence to guns and ease of access to guns as an important factor in the rate of gun related himicides. Gunsa are not the only factor but ease of access and an attitude than guns are there to be used are a powerful factor in gun related homicides.
Noting worse than a barking dog.
Nothing worse than some with an utter lack of decorum .
We live in stressful times.
Nobody’s surprised at these events anymore.
Yes there is. Houses with alarms that never turn off and set off by the wind. And the owners feck off and leave no one with a key to turn off said alarm. Poor people. Rest in peace. Its disgusting that some people can’t just sort stuff out without murdering someone else.
I live next door to someone with 12 dogs and access to a legally held gun and I haven’t shot anyone yet.
My own dog only barks if he senses someone around the house and barks until one of us comes.
But I’m pretty sure he couldn’t hear the dog anymore over the noise of the gunfire.
@fuve.
Sometimes the people causing the disturbance can be uncooperative, abusive, threatening even.
What happens then?
Just shut up and suffer in silence because you’re unfortunate enough to live next door to a primitive.
My dog barks only when out in the back garden and not when in the house. I let him sleep in the house and then put him out during the day. The neighbors complained but I’ve told them where to go cos during the day dogs can bark, just like roadworks and builders can work. Get out of bed before 8am and you can stop moaning. I don’t give two big ones if you’ve the day off or work nights.
@Alan; My dad works at home full time – our neighbours 2 doors down had a jack russell that barked non-stop all day long. When we calmly asked them to do something about it we were told to fcuk off, so we called the dog warden. He said that a barking dog constituted an offence under the tortious law of nuisance, as it prevented my father from “reasonably enjoying his property”. Unsurprisingly, the owners hadn’t a dog license, so they were given a court summons. Instead of going to court they just got rid of the dog, which was good enough for the selfish prciks…
Spanner
Kugel I thoroughly agree. Some people are thoughtless and ignorant.
Don’t be surprised if you come home one day to an empty garden.
How callous and inconsiderate you seem. It’s not surprising that you have a dog that barks all day. You seem to revel in the fact that the dog is tormenting your neighbors.
Barking dogs have to be the most irritating thing about having neighbours. Ive had dark thoughts about our neighbours dog.
Im sure the neighbours have the same taughts about you,only your meant to be human.
It is spelt “thoughts” my dim witted friend
Sea mus, as long as you don’t have access to guns in order to realise your dark thoughts, they can remain as dark thoughts.
I am beyond guns at this stage
I don’t have bad thoughts about the seemingly unloved, and incarcerated dogs but I do about the people that do this. Animals are not for them (nor neighbours).
barking dogs are a total menace. …I told my neighbour recently that her rat dog keeps everyone awake And she told me And another neighbour to get lost. …funny thing tho the ratdog seems to have gotten lost in the mean time
just accidently back over the little čüñţ
Nothing more irritating than a dog barking all night as you try to get a nights sleep.
It is the danger of having very easy access to guns that a person in a fugue state may resort to using that gun in a stressful situation.
Fortunately, guns are rarely resorted to in Portugal, which has a very low rate of gun crime.
What happened is tragic. Three human being short dead over something as mundane as a barking dog.
‘Mundane?’
What if you had to listen to a dog barking morning, noon and especially nighttime when trying to sleep.
A form of aural torture.
Dogs in Portugal seem to be encouraged to bark, after a while you dont even notice it. In more remote parts of rural Portugal lately, disputes seem to be settled with guns recently but generally speaking gun crime is low and gun laws very strict.
totally agree Tommy. People have a right to live in their home without this maddening intrusion.
But there is no right to kill human beings because of a dog barking. It’s an overreaction to kill people.
Heartfelt agreement, we have a neighbour with a shed load literally, they bark day and night. Yes, we did say we were bothered by it. No result, more built.
This comment is the one that links this situation to something about Irish Water.
All postmen should be issued with a 12 bore shotgun. who let the dogs out. BANG.
Guns fault right?
That’s woof
Only in Portugal.
Learn how to spell you idiot
Is the dog ok?
have your say