Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the urgent need for an independent agency to deal with corruption generally in Irish public life. I commend Deputies Catherine Murphy, Shortall and Donnelly on bringing forward the motion. They are seeking to make this a priority issue rather than sweeping it under the carpet - which has been too long the case - along with so many other issues affecting our society. Most of us in the current Dáil are old-fashioned public servants who came into politics to do the right thing and help people. We consider it a great honour to win an election. I spent ten years trying to get in here. Most of us, as councillors formerly and now as Deputies, entered politics to support the people of our constituency and our country.

This debate is particularly relevant as we approach the commemorations of the 1916 Rising. If we are serious about building a new Ireland, we must support these proposals to ensure that openness and accountability are practised, and not just spoken about, in public life. Ireland was once known as the island of saints and scholars but we all know what happened in recent years. We have seen corruption, bribery, banking scandals and greedy individuals riding roughshod over the lives of ordinary people. Those involved have let the people, the country and politics down. It really gets under my skin when some of these people, particularly those who are prominent members of political parties, are caught with their hand in the kitty, they do not resign from public office but instead come out a week later and proclaim themselves to be independent. That damages the integrity of Independent Members and councillors. Even though these individuals are small in number, they have greatly damaged Irish public life. They must be rooted out of politics regardless of any party political concerns or where they come from. It is not acceptable in any form to condone corruption.

The excellent motion before us this evening recognises the reality that corruption of public and commercial life represents a great threat to the democratic functioning of the State. That is a key element of the motion. Rules regarding the links between business and politics and the whole issue of corporate governance must be clearly defined so that everybody understands them. We must acknowledge that the State has no effective means of preventing, investigating or prosecuting corruption or white-collar crime as the responsible agencies are too disconnected. There is a lack of powers and necessary resources. I am saddened by the failure of the Government to act effectively on the findings of the Tribunal to Inquire into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, known as the Mahon tribunal, and the Tribunal of Inquiry into Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, known as the Moriarty tribunal. We must act on the recommendations of those tribunals and we must do so without delay. There have been eight tribunals of inquiry in the past 20 years and where they have made findings of impropriety in public and commercial life, very few consequences have arisen. That has led to cynicism among the public. In my constituency, 35% of people surveyed said they are distrusting of all politicians and do not intend to vote in the next election. That is sad for the voters themselves and also for Irish politics. The RTE programme last night has highlighted this issue once again. We must tackle it head on.

I strongly support the establishment of a permanent and independent anti-corruption agency to initially assume the functions of the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the Register of Lobbying and the Competition Authority but without being confined to those functions. We must mandate the new agency to act as a standing commission of investigation which will have powers of compellability and testimony taking and be able to initiate court-authorised search and seizure operations, including access to bank records. Those are key elements of the motion. We also need to consolidate and reform legislation tackling corruption and white-collar crime. I emphasise the latter because we have a situation where people in the poorer sections of society look on in dismay as they are locked up for minor and petty criminal acts while those engaged in corporate crime walk away with millions or billions in their pockets. I am strongly supportive, too, of the provision in the Private Members' motion to create a new joint Oireachtas oversight committee.

This very effective motion is about dealing with corruption and restoring trust in Irish politics. Weaker and poorer sections of society must be represented in this House. For many years, they were excluded because the wealthy and powerful backed particular people. I urge the Government and all Members to support the motion when it is put to a vote tomorrow night. It strives to create a new brand of politics in this country.

See this speech in context