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A workman removes the signage from the former Anglo Irish Bank HQ in Dublin Niall Carson/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Garda officers call for more manpower to probe Anglo Irish Bank debacle

The president of the garda sergeants’ group said questions were being asked about why no prosecutions have been brought.

GARDA SERGEANTS HAVE called on senior management to provide more manpower to investigate possible fraud at Anglo Irish Bank.

The president of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Padraic Dolan, has told Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan that “adequate staffing” needs to be provided to investigate the bank’s collapse.

Dolan repeated calls for additional staff to be allocated to the fraud squad, and said white collar crime as a whole should be “upgraded in priority” by garda management.

He highlighted criticisms of apparent delays to the investigation of the banking crash, saying:

Almost everyone in the country is asking why have there been no prosecutions of the central figures involved in those scandals. We are being compared to the United States where, it seems, almost overnight people are brought before the courts in handcuffs charged with serious frauds.

Minister Brendan Howlin last month called for the probe to hurry up, saying people who made “reckless and outrageous” decisions should be held accountable.

Dolan suggested that additional staff for the Garda Fraud Squad and other sections could help bring a “speedy resolution” to the Anglo Irish Bank affair. “The country deserves no less,” he added.

The AGSI president also criticised the Commissioner on several issues. He said garda officers were “extremely disappointed” in their working relationship with Callinan.

Dolan also branded the closure of garda stations “disgraceful”. Justice minister Alan Shatter said on Monday that more closures were on the way.

Read: More garda station closures in future, Shatter warns>

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18 Comments
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    Mute Gerard Murphy
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    Apr 4th 2012, 8:49 AM

    The government will pull out all the stops to chase homeowners for 100 notes, this Anglo business that has bankrupted the country is going on four years…..

    108
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    Mute Ailís McKernan
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:11 AM

    Ain’t that the truth :(

    48
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    Mute Gerard
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    Apr 4th 2012, 8:47 AM

    Best of luck getting more resources, doubtful it will happen though, where are they going to get the extra guards when there aren’t enough guards in the country to do the basic stuff?

    81
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    Mute Thevoice Ofreason
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:18 AM

    Get ride of half of our 168 TD’s, all advisors, cut minister & TD’s wages, cut amount of top paid civil servants and cut the wages of the rest, that would free up enough money to employ at least 500 new Garda, nurses and teachers. Investigate these crimes proberly and made people pay for their mistakes.

    76
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    Mute HI SPRUIKER
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:24 AM

    I don’t mean to be a snitch
    but you might bring in our ex Financial Regulator,our ex Central Bank Governor and a couple of our ex Taoiseachs for questioning as well.

    It certainly helped in Iceland.

    66
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    Mute Ryan oneill
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:29 AM

    Good luck to the Gardai and all but shouldn’t someone with financial knowledge be investigating? Knowing the loopholes etc do the Gardai know about ledgers/bears/hegemony/offshore assets etc etc. the US have specially designed teams that train within the financial sector we don’t! Gardai are good for public disorder etc but give them a break their talents can only go so far, that’s why there have been no arrests. That and the fact that all our past and current TDs along with every developer and senior banker would be behind bars by now!!!

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    Mute censored
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    Apr 5th 2012, 9:36 PM

    Don’t forget to look up every tree in Drumcondra!

    1
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    Mute Susie Chester
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    Apr 4th 2012, 8:53 AM

    four years later ! they are asking for more gardai . It beggars belief that there have been no prosecutions ,yet ? It seems totally unfair. Areest and charge these F**kers.asap, and then we might see a change in attitudes , somewhat.,.

    59
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    Mute Dave O'Shea
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:01 AM

    I have to agree susie, one or two white collars slopping out for 10 or 15 years would change a lot of attitudes in this country and it would at least change my attitude towards austerity… Some what

    53
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    Mute Susie Chester
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:19 AM

    Dave .
    I put ”somewhat ” there , because I feel that much more is needed to make these guys see the real damage done to real flesh and blood people. Ordinary people who worked very hard during the boom times to improve their lot like never before , and thereby assissted the accumulation of the wealth that is being hidden behind and used to protect the guilty . Prison time is a must . Physical work is a must and they should be made go to the ”soup kitchens” around the country . They should be brought to our A+E’s and made see the actual damage to our health services . They should sit /stand in a Social Welfare office . I can not believe they are still walking around free , while we are being chased and ridiculed by the government for €100 . I will never pay this house hold charge,at least until I see justice for all the wrong they have done.
    Yes ! For anyone wondering , I want my pound of flesh !

    16
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    Mute Richard Fitzwell
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:10 AM

    No point in charging these people until the evidence is gathered correctly and investigating done right! Won’t stand in our court system hence why it’s taking so long with demonising resources

    36
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    Mute Sean Davids
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:05 AM

    They’ll let the investigation drag on for a few more years so when they don’t charge anybody the majority of people wont care too much.

    35
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    Mute Danny Flynn
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:11 AM

    I wonder when the statute of limitations kicks in on white collar crime I’m sure when the time comes to charge somebody we will be told its to late

    30
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    Mute Gerard
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:27 AM

    Once the offence carries a prison sentence of 5 years imprisonment or more then there is no statute of limitations so here’s hoping the DPP makes the correct decision and we will see some of these low life’s do some prison time, not going to hold my breath though

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    Mute 1 Human Being
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:14 AM

    There has to be a worldwide investigation into the crisis. It was instigated by fraudulent activity. If nobody can understand credit default swaps and derivatives and you need a phd in mathematics or a supercomputer to understand them isn’t there something wrong about that. The over complication of a pretty simple system is what happened. If larger banks such as JP Morgan Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions where the key traders in this then a major investigation into these banks and the other private banks such as the fed in the US and the ECB in Europe should also be undertaken. As well as a investigation into regulation and our own privately owned central bank.

    22
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    Mute Derek Durkin
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    Apr 4th 2012, 1:53 PM

    It has to happen in New York and London first as they are the two biggest financial centres in the world. Only problem is the two main parties in the UK and US have long since sold themselves down the river to these entities. As they say in the US, its impossible to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs in the US presidental election as they are the biggest contributers to both Romney and Obama.

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    Mute Fly The Irish Flag
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:46 AM

    I think what we’re probably seeing here is a “get the public on our side” move.

    Some stations are closed, announcement that more are to close, announcement that we need more resources to continue the investigation.

    Simple truth is that cutbacks are being made in the wrong places. We need more GS/nurses etc. we don’t need the level of politicians we have (both local & national). We don’t need one administrator for every four frontline staff in PS. That could easily move to 1:6 without too much impact.

    The best thing the government could do for their image these days is to bring in some bankers for questioning (or maybe ex leaders). Unfortunately that’s not likely to happen & we’ll probably only get a couple of minor players (who’ll be paid to take the fall).

    18
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    Mute Mx
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:18 AM

    The investigation team are happy with their progress which they say is 90% complete, up from 89% in 2008

    13
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