Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Minister does any political reading but obviously in the Dáil, there is not a high level of debate. Outside this Chamber there is a great deal of political writing. I recently visited America where Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has been writing about a corporatecoup d’état, a global corporate takeover of society whereby what he calls the internal controls that used to exist have declined and the corporate takeover is complete. By internal controls he means a questioning media and a questioning government that would, in some way, constrain the global oligarchy.

3 o’clock

The issue the House has been debating for many hours yesterday and today is the epitome of this.

Hedges writes that "a tiny global oligarchy has amassed obscene wealth". The Minister will be aware that the wealth of 80 individuals equates to the wealth of 3.5 billion people, or one half of the population of the planet. Hedges also speaks of corrupt governments "abandon[ing] the common good to serve corporate profit" and notes that "no mechanisms to institute genuine reform or halt the corporate assault are left". He adds: "The citizen has become irrelevant. He or she can participate in heavily choreographed elections, but the demands of corporations and banks are paramount." He must have had Ireland in mind when he wrote these words, given their relevance to the topic under discussion.

Hedges also states that governments the world over blindly serve their masters and "acquiesce to the looting of state treasuries to bail out corrupt financial houses and banks while ignoring chronic unemployment and underemployment, along with stagnant or declining wages, crippling debt peonage, a collapsing infrastructure, and the millions left destitute and often homeless". While he is referring to the global position, his description accurately characterises the position in this country.

Yesterday, we heard about an insiders' investigation into very dodgy dealings. We are discussing the winding down of a bank for which ordinary working and unemployed people have paid a heavy price. KPMG is investigating KPMG. Many of the members of an old boys' network who have multiple business links, including shares in each other's companies, and were involved in the original deal will be involved in investigating this deal.

Lest we forget, the individual we are discussing was the subject of the Moriarty tribunal. Does the Government accept the findings of that tribunal? Is the Minister in a position to answer that question because the Government certainly sends out mixed signals on the issue? The tribunal found that "no conclusion can be arrived at, other than that repeated and clandestine courses of actions were adopted by persons intimately associated with Mr. O'Brien, to confer payments or other benefits upon Mr. Lowry, on behalf of Mr. O'Brien." The tribunal's report also detailed the various payments that were made.

Following the general election, the Taoiseach stated that he would "sever the links between politics and business once and for all and, in so doing, achieve three fundamental goals: stop the further pollution of our society; re-establish a moral code and order regarding public life; and, through that, restore public confidence in politics and government." Public confidence is at an all-time low following the events of recent weeks.

If the Government believes the findings of the Moriarty tribunal, which cost taxpayers €200 million, why was Denis O'Brien a guest of the Government at the Global Irish Economic Forum which, ironically, took place at Dublin Castle, the location of the hearings of the Moriarty tribunal? Why has Mr. O'Brien had such a strong relationship with the Fine Gael Party? The Taoiseach has seen fit to have many public meetings and engagements with Mr. O'Brien, including at the New York Stock Exchange.

Last week, Mr. O'Brien was given an opportunity to publish an article in The Irish Timesdespite having ready access to many other media organs. Reading the piece, people will have been nauseated by the arrogance on display. Clearly, a person living in a retreat in Malta will not be familiar with the pain that has been inflicted on ordinary people in this country as a result of seven years of austerity. Mr. O'Brien wrote: "Maybe I am old-fashioned but I operate on the basis that a client’s relationship with its bank is at all times confidential." It is incredible that he believes his dealings with a bank which was bailed out using billions of euro belonging to taxpayers and unemployed people should be secret. Mr. O'Brien also wrote: "Dáil privilege is an important component of our democracy; however, there is a parallel duty of care on the TDs and Senators to use this privilege with integrity under the guidance of the Ceann Comhairle." However, no parallel duty exists to respect the findings of a tribunal that cost taxpayers €200 million and that investigated the award to Mr. O'Brien of a mobile telephone licence that amounted to a licence to print money. Lo and behold, Mr. O'Brien was subsequently given another licence to print money when he was awarded the contract to install water meters. That depends, however, on whether the Government proceeds with its plan to implement water charges, which is highly unlikely.

Denis O'Brien has boasted that his actions of late were an act of patriotism. I did not realise that when the purchase of Irish assets by foreign companies was at its height, Mr. O'Brien decided to buy a number of companies "to keep some of them Irish, to preserve and grow employment and to seek opportunities for these businesses to develop in Ireland and overseas." What is the Minister's view on this statement? The companies in question included Siteserv, Topaz and the Beacon Hospital, which, taken together, cost taxpayers approximately €350 million through write-downs on their debts. Taxpayers will not take the view that Mr. O'Brien did us all a great service.

Mr. O'Brien also wrote that, over dinner one night - probably in Malta - a friend told him not to bother buying anything in Ireland as he would "get dog's abuse." These people live on another planet, yet they have such an ordinate power. I understand, for example, that Mr. O'Brien has pursued 28 cases of libel.

Considering how much money the Fine Gael Party has received from Denis O'Brien, he can certainly be described as a patriot. In an 18-month period between March 1995 and June 1996, when the Minister was either at the helm of the Fine Gael Party or held a high-profile position in it, Mr. O'Brien supported Irish democracy by attending 14 Fine Gael fund-raising events and donating £20,000 to the party, which was then in government. In 1996, he donated a further £50,000 to Fine Gael on behalf of three of his companies. The late Jim Mitchell also worked as his political consultant. Given this baggage and history, I would have expected the Government to seek to remain a million miles removed from Denis O'Brien. It seems that is not the case.

The lucrative water meter contract that Mr. O'Brien was awarded as a result of Siteserv setting up GMC Sierra confirms to those who are sick and tired of what they are hearing about this issue that they should boycott water charges. This would be a powerful way to fight back, as these people should not be further enriched. The word on the street, in case the Minister is not aware of it, is that not only has Mr. O'Brien won the contract to install water meters, but he will probably also come to own Irish Water.

Events have shown that the system is at fault. Senior journalists stated on a radio programme today that it is probable that the commission of inquiry will not find anything illegal. Does it not say something about the system that all of this will be found to have been perfectly legal? It shows what a rotten system we have and that capitalism is at fault and must be eradicated.

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