Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The issue of connectedness is a problem in the Irish system. Judge Alan Mahon recognised it, the dogs on the street know it, the old school tie, where one lives and with whom one associates, the issue of conflicts of interest - not least in recent controversies - is writ large, and there is the use of insider information, which term I use softly not necessarily in its commercial sense. How do those countries with smaller systems offset these? How do they regulate or do they need to, or is this characteristic deeply embedded in our culture?