2005 PRESS RELEASES & STATEMENTS
The Purchase of Thornton Hall for the Proposed New Prison Site
21st November 2005 (Public Statement)
Irish Ferries
29th September 2005 (Press Release)
Dingle Name Change
15th June 2005 (Press Release)
My Week This Week - French Referendum 1st June 2005
Download or Listen to Joe's speech on the French Referendum
Pope's Death and Recalling the Seanad
5th April 2005 (Press Release)
Listen to Joe's words on the National Day of Mourning.
Untrained Teachers in Irish Schools
8th March 2005 (Press Release)
Download The Untrained Teachers Sound File
Delay in the Building of Special School in Ballina, Co. Mayo
22nd February 2005 (Press Release)
Public Address at DICE(Development and Intercultural Education) Event
27th January 2005 (Public Address)
Revenue Rip Off:The Sequel!!
24th January 2005 (Press Release)
Revenue Rip Off
21st January 2005 (Press Release)
NIB Report
16th December 2004 (Press Release)
Proposed M3 Route Through Tara-Skyrne Valley
24th November 2004 (Press Release)
Irish Ferries (29/09/05)
“The attitude of Irish Ferries is indicative of the direction Ireland does not want to take. The company is attempting to depress wages, repress workers and bring us back to the future of a spailpín fánach type economy in which immigrants and foreign workers are exploited, Irish workers sacked and money taken from the taxpayer. This irresponsible company will make decent businesses uncompetitive and is a terrible reflection of our economy at international level. Irish Ferries will be at the bottom of the pile when I choose how I intend to travel abroad. This episode also demonstrates the importance of ensuring there are no monopolies. It is an appalling reflection on Ireland and indicates that we appear to have lost our way.
Irish Ferries is trying to turn legislation on redundancy on its head. Sacking an employee and replacing him or her a week later does not constitute redundancy. It is appalling that the management of Irish Ferries has proposed to contemptuously charge the taxpayer 60% of the costs it incurs in putting Irish workers out of work and recruiting foreign workers at rates of pay far lower than those agreed. Those who believe otherwise should apply the company's logic to their own position and imagine their reaction if they were told tomorrow they would be paid half their previous wage from Monday onwards and that the other extraordinary conditions being put to workers in Irish Ferries would apply.
Why would 70% of workers in the company indicate they wished to accept the deal put forward by management? The reason is terror and the company's policy of frightening people and panicking them into the lifeboats to protect themselves. Workers are worried about their families' future and whether they will have something in the bank for a rainy day. Perhaps they were never fully informed, which brings us back to the legislation before us. I note the selective use of information in the statements issued by Irish Ferries. They inform us, for example, that ferry car business decreased last year but do not bother to mention that freight business has increased significantly. They also failed to note that we are fast approaching the point at which our ports will no longer be able to cope with the level of exports and imports they are processing.
If Irish Ferries proceeds in the manner it proposes, Ireland would be better off without it and it would be preferable to try to find other employment for workers who wish to work elsewhere. We cannot countenance the company's proposals which were made immediately before negotiations begin on a possible new national partnership. They undermine trust and confidence. Little is required in the partnership process, whether on the part of IBEC on the management side, ICTU on the trade union side or the Government, to give sustenance to those who oppose agreement. Opponents will point to the actions of those on the other side and argue that the process will never work. Activity of the type proposed by Irish Ferries will reverberate around the trade union movement in the next couple of months and the company's name will be mentioned at every upcoming trade union meeting. Members will be asked why their trade unions should enter partnerships with employers or trust Irish business. Irish Ferries does not reflect business people in general. Most are happy to seek a decent profit, pay their workers a decent wage and remain competitive by arguing the toss between both.
Access to accounts and information in Irish Ferries would have prevented us from reaching the point we are at today. This attempt by Irish Ferries to make itself anti-competitive by undermining competition with taxpayers' money, so it can sack workers and employ and exploit foreign workers to undercut its competitors on other routes, is unfair under European legislation. It is unacceptable, anti-European and uncompetitive and we cannot put State money into it. If we need legislation to copper fasten that position, we should introduce it.
Legislation, however, should not be necessary. Our redundancy legislation cannot be stretched to achieve the outcome Irish Ferries desires. The European directives will not allow us to put money into a company which then, using that money, is in a position to undermine the competition. It is not on, we cannot allow this to happen. It is not something we should be part of and if it goes to the wire on Monday, we should make our position clear. All speakers in this House and people across the labour spectrum have indicated their worries about it. Management is doing this without indicating what level of pain it will soak up. How many people from Eastern Europe will be asked to run the company? None. This is an old fashioned anti-worker approach that we cannot accept.
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Dingle Name Change (15/06/05)
SO THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO FORCE AN UNWANTED NAME CHANGE ON THE PEOPLE OF DINGLE AND CORCA DHUIBHNE.
WHAT ABSOLUTE SEAFÓID.
NÍL ANSO ACH AIRGEAD Á gCUR AMÚ GO SCANNALLACH GAN PUINN MAITHEAS DON GHAELAINN NÓ MUINTIR NA GAELTACHTAÍ.
Consider how Gaeltacht and Breac Gaeltacht residents are deprived once again of normal citizens’ rights;-
· In Dublin recently the residents of a small street wanted to change the street name. Quite understandably they had to have a full referendum of all the residents before they were allowed to do so.
· A few short years ago the residents of the town officially known as Newtownsands in North Kerry wanted to change the name of the town to the more popular Moyvane. They had a referendum. They had an overwhelming majority in favour of change but, because the percentage of residents who turned out to vote was less than 66% of the electorate, they were not allowed change the name officially.
Contrast the democratic nature of those experiences with the situation in Gaeltacht towns where a non resident Minister sitting in a Dublin office can, at the stroke of a pen, with no consultation whatsoever and against the wishes of the residents and the local public representatives, change the traditional and globally recognised name of DINGLE to An DAINGEAN.
Talk about “ag cur airgid amú”. Rarely did the Gaeltachts need money as much as now and rarely has so much money been wasted so foolishly as by the Minister for the Gaeltacht who will spend hundreds of thousands of euros confusing the geography of the Gaeltacht area in a manner requested by nobody.
Look at the DINGLE situation…
· The fact that Dingle town and surroundings is bilingual is one of the area’s strongest assets – getting rid of English kills this, obviously.
· It is of no benefit whatever to the Gaeltacht people or An Teanga. How will the removal of “Dingle” from signposts help the Irish language?
· It would be more beneficial to invest in the local children’s education with classroom assistants etc or
· Invest in the currently totally under-resourced scheme “Cuntoirí Teanga” scheme. This is where parents take the time to do a course which trains them to teach the Irish language to schoolchildren. It is taught in a fun way and is a very successful scheme. However, due to it being under-resourced, it only runs for 2hours a week and finishes at Easter.
· Dingle depends very heavily on tourism. Tourism generates €100million a year to the local economy – 1million tourists visit the Dingle area every year. The people of Dingle want to make it easier for the tourist to find Dingle, not to totally confuse the tourist.
· 20 years ago fishing and agriculture were huge industries in Dingle. The Dingle people trusted the Government at the time to protect these industries but they didn’t. Why should they trust this Government to protect their primary industry now….tourism?
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Speaking in relation to the controversy over the National Days of Mourning (05/04/05), Senator Joe O'Toole had this to say:
Surely it is quite irrelevant how other countries mourn a loss. Of all the Nations on Earth, we’ve never had to look for advice on how to mourn.
Surely the traditional way for Irish people to show respect for and pay tribute to the dead is to recall, revisit and indeed enjoy their memorable lives.
We politicians know more about funerals than most and this is the positive lead we should be giving this week. Rather than merely lowering the flag over Leinster House and closing the Chambers, the Dail and Seanad should each meet in Special Sessions this week to allow Senators and TD¹s pay tribute, show respect and reflect the feelings of people we represent.
Today I have contacted the Office of the Seanad leader and Cathaoirleach asking them to recall the House for a Special Session on Thursday or Friday and do things the Irish way.
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Independent Senator Joe O’Toole Warns the Government on Probable Legal Action On Unqualified Teachers (08/03/05)
"Hard on the heels of the Nursing home scandal the State is once again playing with fire. The fact that more than 1000 Primary school pupils do not have a recognised, qualified and trained teacher in their classrooms is criminally negligent and is an open invitation to a legal challenge.
It is only a matter of time before some parents launch a successful class constitutional action against the Minister for Education for depriving their children of access to education by a recognised and qualified teacher.
The Irish constitution demands that the state “provide for free primary education”. This unequivocally implies professional standards of Primary education. In this, the State is remiss and is in neglect of its constitutional responsibility to the children of the Nation.
The Minister must act now to ensure that all teachers in primary schools are fully trained. Our children deserve no less."
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“It’s time to act Minister.” (22/02/05)Addressing the Seanad today, Senator Joe O’Toole said;
“ The pupils, teachers and parents of St. Dymphna’s and St. Nicholas’ Schools in Ballina, Co. Mayo are being treated disgracefully by the Department of Education.
Every indication is, that once again these schools, dealing with pupils with special needs, are going to be ignored and disregarded by the Minister for Education and Science and by her Department.
St. Nicholas’ School is a two-storey, semi-detached domestic building with 17pupils ranging in age from 4 to 17, with an extensive range of disabilities.
Only 6 of the 17 students are physically capable of climbing the stairs, therefore the majority must be taught downstairs.
The rooms are hopelessly inadequate for the needs of a school, particularly so in view of the increase of pupils with multiple disabilities, and their need for equipment for access to curriculum, seating, handling and movement.
In the present situation, it is impossible for the school to provide adequately for the pupils’ needs.
There are very serious safety issues with regard to the actual space available for each child, the lifting and handling facilities, changing and toileting facilities, and adequate supervision where classes have to be divided because of space and the staff must move from room to room.
Clearly, these pupils have special needs indeed.
Clearly, these schools should be on top of the Minister’s priority list.
Clearly, as a vulnerable group, these people have very little political influence.
It’s quite disgraceful that their needs are being ignored. How long does this have to continue? I call on the Minister to show a bit of heart and to prioritise the building programme of these schools so that they don’t face another year of appalling and unsuitable conditions. The disregard of special education is a serious embarrassment to Irish people at a time when they are producing the most successful economy in Europe.
So, here we are almost 2months into 2005 and the Minister has not yet announced the school building programme for the year. Consequently, all work is held up until she makes her announcement.
It’s time to act Minister.”
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Addressing reception to mark partnership between Development Cooperation Ireland and The Church of Ireland College of Education in Rathmines (27/01/05)
There is a huge burden of responsibility on us to present diversity of cultures, through education, legislation and persuasion as an adornment, enrichment and an embellishment of our society.
Racism and sectarianism are the twin evils which corrode our community and which will eat away at our structures unless we eliminate them. The racist reaction of too many Irish people in recent times to discovering that our booming economy had attracted hundreds of non Irish citizens to our country has reminded many of us in the Education world of our duty to educate against racism.
Those public representatives who were loudest and most indignant in their demands a short few years ago for a better deal for illegal Irish emigrants in the United States were strangely silent about the identical problems of our foreign immigrants in Ireland. We need, regularly, to remind ourselves that we for many years have been the spongers of Europe and have historically the lowest intake of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Can we adapt at home to what we did abroad for centuries? On a pro rata basis more Irish people have settled in other countries than almost any other race of people. During the last century, most of the Irish emigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the U.S. or at Gros Isle in Canada were apprehensive, uneducated, unwelcome and forced to live in horrific overcrowded conditions. They were resented by all except by their own ethnic group and struggled to find work, to gain acceptance and to achieve an acceptable standard of living.
Even today we can still feel angry when we hear of the “No Irish Need apply” type of attitude they faced all those years ago alone and afraid in a foreign country. Only a decade ago we read horrific stories of illegal Irish in the U.S. being exploited. We demanded fair treatment for them.
Ireland today has a small influx of immigrants and refugees each year. Many of them are from countries to which we sent missionaries and aid workers over the years. We were proud of that. We were also proud when Irish people were the highest per capita contributors to “Live Aid”. We must as teachers remind ourselves, and the younger generation, of this. Schools will be the first place where the children of immigrants will experience Irish attitudes. They will be from another culture, they may speak with a strange accent or their English may be poor. They may have a different skin colour. Their parents may not be able to communicate in English. They will be apprehensive. We must never forget that these were our great great-grand uncles and aunts arriving in North America from Irish Gaeltachts and Galltachts more than a century ago.
There is a huge burden of responsibility on us to present this diversity of cultures, through education, legislation and persuasion as an adornment, enrichment and an embellishment of our society. There are worrying indications that this might be difficult. There seems to be a ready market for the most sensationalised media presentation of immigration issues.
Racism is a function of an incomplete education. It was Newman who said that “Tolerance” was the first quality of an educated person. On this island at the moment, acceptance of difference, parity of esteem and the accommodation of different cultures is universally acknowledged as being the path to peaceful neighbourliness. Can we extend it also to immigrants?
A pluralist and inclusive society can never be in a passive state. There must be catalysts for increasing interaction and integration. This requires and implies proactive policies of learning through enrichment by other ethnic groups and thereby creating a context for the greater appreciation and development of one’s own culture. There must be in any civilised society arrangements ensuring the protection of and development of minority groups.
A healthy society is like a precious stone, multi faceted and formed by different attitudes, directions and reflections and developed over generations of maturation.
Ireland now has the opportunity of focusing its learned tolerance towards creating just such a community.
There are stages of development in a multicultural society. These stages are determined by the maturity of the community. The strongest, most innate and primeval instinct of any tribe or nation is that of self-perpetuation. The first and historical reaction to those who are different is to fell threatened and to reject them. Nowadays, this stage would be manifest regularly by fascist football supporters. The mature society quickly moves on from this savage state.
Firstly, there will be tolerance of difference. At this stage difference is no longer seen as threatening. It is a move onwards from the time when it was felt necessary to reject, ostracise or at least ridicule those with different skin colour, beliefs or religious practices. This is the “some of my best friends are .......”
Secondly there is the accommodation of difference stage. It manifests itself in worthy, well-intentioned initiatives at local level. Ecumenical ceremonies would be a good example. A closer examination of them usually proves that they are regularly driven by pragmatic necessity and that it is a joint or common approach to an event that was going to take place anyway with or without the churches. Weddings and funerals are good examples.
Thirdly, there is inclusivity which is the stage after tolerance and accommodation of difference.
This is the stage where the community pro-actively provides space for and promotes those outsiders who are different. It manifests itself in issues such as the establishment of schools and churches. The images of official support will also be there so the President opens the Muslim school and we are all pleased at our sophistication as a society which contentedly includes “others”. But whereas this eventually can open the way for a pluralist society it cannot of itself be described as “pluralist”. It is still merely inclusive. The analogy would be to a mixture of oil and water. No matter how long you leave them apparently mingled in the same glass they will still remain separate, unmixed and in the same hierarchical order each restricted to its own space. Nothing changes. Pluralism and inclusivity can never be achieved by separating groups or by reinforcing difference.
A society which merely creates its own space for each and every ethnic or cultural minority is not of itself pluralist. In fact too rigid an application of separateness is in fact no more than a benign apartheid.
The final stage is a pluralist community which must always be greater than the sum of its parts.
Pluralism will be defined and identified not just by the numbers or sum of its subcultures, religions or ethnic groups but more crucially by the quality of integration and interaction among and between them.
The clearest identification of a multicultural and genuinely pluralist society is the manner in which it is enriched by the normal societal interaction among people of different faiths, cultures, beliefs, practices, language and colour. In such a society minorities will be respected and included rather than preserved and separated. They will also be assimilated in a celebration of ethnicity rather than swallowed into the dull uniformity and anonymity of the monolithical objective of some social engineers.
Nationalism and Liberalism are, each in its own way, a threat to Pluralism. The Nationalism of the dominant group seeking to exclude or demean the minority groups is well documented. Difficulty is also created however by the Nationalism of members of minority groups who seek to remain always aloof from the majority and who will cry “assimilation” at the slightest attempt to bridge cultural differences or to lead them into the mainstream of the community. Adjustment to the norms of the society in which we find ourselves is a perfectly normal part of the dynamism of living in community.
Pluralism is and must remain quite distinct from the “Liberal agenda”.
“Liberal” is a mark of a pluralist society only in the sense of that society being open, tolerant and free. Seeking to create a society where everyone shares the same so-called “liberal” views on the issues of the day is the very antithesis of Pluralism. Similarly, in a true pluralist society, those Liberals who sneer at or mock Conservative Catholics must be treated with the same anathema as those who ridicule the culture of immigrants.
Pluralism is the full spectrum whereas Liberalism is only a segment of the spectrum. In fact a good test of the Pluralist society is that it provides a supportive environment even for those to whom the very notion of pluralism is anathema.
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STATEMENT FROM INDEPENDENT SENATOR JOE O'TOOLE (24/01/05)
So the Revenue has backed down in the face of my statement of last week. Well that is welcome but sorry Commissioners,it is not enough. It is simply not acceptable that within the PAYE system THERE SHOULD BE A CLANDESTINE STEALTH TAX WHICH HAS BEEN OVERCHARGING DECENT, HONEST, COMPLIANT TAXPAYERS FOR YEARS.
Despite being pushed by me, on a number of occasions over the past few weeks The Revenue Commissioners were loathe to give any information on the matter of Tax Overpayments by PAYE workers. Getting any statistics about it from them was like drawing hens’ teeth. Finally, however, after I made a Public Statement on the issue they were clearly embarrassed into making a number of admissions.
This is what I have managed to establish;
· That whereas Revenue do prepare a list of PAYE workers who have underpaid their taxes and bill them for the outstanding amounts they do not check ordinary PAYE workers annual tax returns for overpayments.
· That the Revenue could, if they so wished, at the press of a button also create a list of those Taxpayers who have overpaid their taxes.
· That Tax Law prevents the Revenue from returning overpaid taxes unless the individual taxpayer makes a specific claim for it.
· That this Rip-Off has been going on for as long as there has been a PAYE system and Taxpayers have never been made aware of it.
Consider that as late as last Thursday afternoon, the Revenue
Commissioners were adopting a “we can’t for the life of us see what the problem is” kind of attitude.
As late as Thursday they were pooh-poohing the idea that there was any significance to the matter.
As late as Thursday they were also giving me to understand that even if there was a particular amount taken unbeknown to the taxpayers the Revenue had no idea of how much was involved.
Contrast this with their position on Friday.
Within hours of my making the Statement on National Media see www.joeotoole.net - the Revenue Commissioners finally put their hands up and conceded that PAYE workers did lie to the loss of a significant amount of money and that the Revenue would be bringing forward a proposal in the Finance Bill to facilitate the return of such money. Within hours also estimates of possible amounts ranging from more than 100 Million Euro to almost Half a Billion Euro began to emerge.
I NOW DEMAND THAT THE PRECISE AMOUNTS OF OVERPAYMENTS OWING TO PAYE WORKERS, OVER THE PAST DECADES, BE CALCULATED AND RETURNED TO THEM.
There must be fairness and balance in the taxation system. Ordinary compliant taxpayers must be reassured that they can trust the Revenue to look after their interests. I have today written to the Chair of the Leinster House Joint Finance
Committee asking that the Revenue Commissioners be invited before the Committee to clarify all of this on the record and to outline the corrective and remedial measures that they will put in place.
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STATEMENT FROM INDEPENDENT SENATOR JOE O’TOOLE (21/01/05)
Member of Joint Finance & Public Services Committee, Leinster House.
It would appear that ordinary PAYE workers are annually being ripped off by The Revenue Commissioners.
I would like to be proved wrong but all the indications support the contention.
The truth is that that most people do not like getting involved with the Revenue. There is always the fear that it could lead to trouble. Leave them alone.
It is also a fact that people tend to trust the Revenue. They get their Tax Free Allowance certificates at the start of the year. Their employer implements it. Then at the end of year the P60 certificate outlining the Tax paid is issued. It all looks official and trustworthy. But what we do not receive is a Tax Balancing certificate. We are entitled to ask for one but it does not issue automatically.
Following a number of discussions with representatives of the Revenue Commissioners, here is what I have discovered….
After the end of each financial year the Revenue computer processes the tax returns of PAYE workers in every employment in the State. This process lists all those who have underpaid their taxes and kick starts a procedure to collect the outstanding amounts. Fine.
This begs the question as to what happens in the cases of those who have overpaid their taxes? AND THE ANSWER IS ASTONISHING. Because according to the Revenue Commissioners they have programmed their computer only to identify underpayments. They do not program the computer to identify OVERPAYMENTS!!!!!!
I believe this to be maladministration.
But it gets worse.
They say it would be a waste of time doing so… And why? Well because don¹t you know that Section 865 of the Tax Consolidation Act prevents the Revenue from returning Tax OVERPAYMENTS unless the taxpayer lodges a formal claim for its return. [They tell me that there are some small exceptions to this but they are insignificant].
I believe the net impact of this could be astronomical.
How much is involved? Well I don't know but more worryingly the Revenue don¹t know.
If to take a most conservative estimate we were to say since 1990 that 5% [1 in 20] of the State's 1.75Million PAYE payers overpaid by the equivalent of a mere 7 Euro per month that would accumulate to more than 100Million Euro being robbed from taxpayers.
But this is a pure uninformed estimate it could just as easily be hundreds of Millions.
The worst part of it is that the Revenue, whom we entrust to collect due taxes cannot tell me the actual amounts. But it is reasonable to extrapolate that the amounts involved in all probability puts in the shade the recent overcharging and related scandals in the NIB and AIB.
How can anyone have confidence in the PAYE system after this?
All of this is outrageous, unacceptable and must be fully investigated.
Who is responsible and what can be done?
1. I will be raising this at the meeting of the Joint Finance
Committee in Leinster House and I will be proposing that the Revenue
Commissioners be called before the Committee to explain fully the position and to indicate the Corrective and Redress measures that they can put in place.
2. I will be demanding that each taxpayer should now be issued with an annual TAX BALANCING STATEMENT ASAP after the end of the tax year.
3. I will be insisting that the Revenue Computer processing of PAYE
be programmed also to identify OVERPAYMENTS.
4. I will be proposing that the ridiculous Section 865 of the Tax
Consolidation Act, which prevents the Revenue from returning Tax overpayment except following a claim, be rescinded immediately.
5. Crucially I want the Revenue to undertake a check back of
PAYE accounts over past years and to guarantee that all OVERPAYMENTS will be repaid with same Interest rate level as applied to defaulters.
And
6. I believe that taxpayers are due an apology and an assurance that this totally unacceptable and unfair practice be discontinued immediately.
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DOES ANYBODY CARE THAT A BANK (NIB) FOUND TO HAVE AIDED AND ABETTED SYSTEMATIC TAX EVASION, IS NOW GOING TO BID US FAREWELL WITH 1 BILLION EURO SALTED AWAY AND NOT A QUESTION ASKED?
Senator Joe O’Toole demands that the NIB Report be discussed and examined by the Oireachtas.
Senator Joe O’Toole, a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and Public Service, has this week demanded that the NIB (National Irish Bank) Report be discussed and examined in the Oireachtas and that representatives of the NIB are called before the Finance Committee of Leinster House.
The report by IFSRA on AIB on Tuesday brings to mind the report by the High Court Inspectors into NIB, which was published over the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2004.
As with the AIB, the NIB Report concerned issues relating to overcharging of customers, failures in systems and controls, and unauthorized imposition of interest and charges to customers. It found that this took place on a systematic and widespread basis.
The NIB report also featured allegations of systematic tax evasion and the aiding and abetting of tax evasion by a licensed bank. There were serious findings made against named executives in the bank, including a former CEO, a number of senior managers and a member of the Oireachtas.
The NIB Report was described by the Tanaiste as deeply disturbing and that it showed an astonishing catalogue of systematic overcharging and tax evasion.
The Report was referred to IFSRA, the DPP and the Revenue Commissioner for further action, but nothing further has been heard about the report since August. In particular, it has not been debated by the Oireachtas, either in terms of a full plenary debate or in the Finance Committee. The bank has commenced a process of compensating customers for overcharging.
The bank, currently in the process of being sold, has never attended any public forum to give its response to the Report. If the sale proceeds, any new owners cannot be held accountable for the sins of the current owners and the matter will escape parliamentary scrutiny and probable further regulatory scrutiny or sanction.
This bank (NIB) will now be sold for a profit of approximately 1 Billion Euro.
Does anybody care that a bank found to have aided and abetted systematic tax evasion is now going to bid us farewell with 1 Billion Euro salted away and not a question asked??
I want these people called to account before the elected public representatives of the Dail and the Seanad. Consumers, taxpayers and the community at large deserve no less.
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IT IS UNNECESSARY TO DESPOIL THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF THE TARA AREA TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEW M3 MOTORWAY. Instead, we can literally have our cake and eat it.We can build the motorway ansd still protect our heritage. It is simply a matter of being sensitive and practical.
There is no need to oppose the construction of the M3 Motorway nor do we need to slow its development. This is an attempt to ensure a practical approach to finding an acceptable middle line between the National Roads Authority [NRA] on the one hand who wish to drive ahead with their current Route proposals and on the other side those Lobby Groups who wish to protect important parts of our heritage by putting forward a reasonable alternative to the proposed route.
Over the years the green-welly-wearing, tweed-jacketed, urban types have often unreasonably opposed to developments that were crucial to the viability of local communities. It might be argued that they have sometimes brought the democratic process of objecting into disrepute.
Burren Centre, Ionad Oidhreachta na mBlascaod in West Kerry, Carrickmines. An Taisce has not covered itself in glory in its approach to the complex issue of Rural Housing.
Sometimes one feels that in ensuring the protection of a citizen’s democratic right to object we have created a hydra that seems to grow a new head every time one avenue of objection is cut off. It is not difficult to understand the frustration of Government in this matter. Indeed this House supported the recent legislation that gave the Minister additional powers to bring to a just conclusion issues such as Carrickmines.
There may now be a temptation in Government to write off the Tara Skryne group as a bit of a nuisance but that would be a grave mistake. Each issue must be considered separately
It is our duty to be practical, sensible and positive and to ask the Government to be sensitive and responsible. The fact is that we need a new motorway to replace the existing, inadequate N3 and that it will have to be routed through Meath is certain. This is a given and is uncontested. County Meath has had to accept more Motorway intrusion than any other county; the M1 through East Meath; the M2 through Ashbourne to Slane and; the M4 through Enfield.
These proposals were generally accepted and are to be welcomed and are adding greatly to the improvement of the National Roads infrastructure. Now it will have to accept the new M3 also. But we must hope, not in its current conception.
The M1, M2 and M4 created no real problem by their location. In fact it is not widely known that the construction of these motorways has produced and unearthed incredibly important archaeological evidence that has been to our collective benefit. This is something to be recognised, valued and celebrated and all these findings should be published in a full scientific publication to the highest international standard.
If that was good the next bit is bad. Unfortunately that part of the M3 route proposed through the Tara Skryne valley is wrong, wrong, fundamentally wrong. All the archaeological evidence offered prior to the Environmental Impact Statement recognised the importance of the Tara Skyrne cultural landscape and unequivocally urged that that area be avoided when the motorway route was being determined.
Whoever it was at the National Roads Authority, who defined Tara as the hilltop only is completely uninformed and dangerously ignorant of the reality of the area. This is a wide cultural landscape embracing a huge importance in the areas of Archaeology, History and Celtic Studies. This is different from Carrickmines which may well be dealt with through excavation and recording. The Government must intervene and have the route changed.
There is no reason why the motorway cannot be rerouted away from Tara. We are talking about a detour that would be no more than 3 miles. Yes, it would be costly but in the context of the centrality of this location to our national identity, history and our sense of what we are, IT WOULD BE CHEAP AT THE PRICE.
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The Purchase of Thornton Hall for the Proposed New Prison Site
21st November 2005 (Public Statement)
Irish Ferries
29th September 2005 (Press Release)
Dingle Name Change
15th June 2005 (Press Release)
My Week This Week - French Referendum 1st June 2005
Download or Listen to Joe's speech on the French Referendum
Pope's Death and Recalling the Seanad
5th April 2005 (Press Release)
Listen to Joe's words on the National Day of Mourning.
Untrained Teachers in Irish Schools
8th March 2005 (Press Release)
Download The Untrained Teachers Sound File
Delay in the Building of Special School in Ballina, Co. Mayo
22nd February 2005 (Press Release)
Public Address at DICE(Development and Intercultural Education) Event
27th January 2005 (Public Address)
Revenue Rip Off:The Sequel!!
24th January 2005 (Press Release)
Revenue Rip Off
21st January 2005 (Press Release)
NIB Report
16th December 2004 (Press Release)
Proposed M3 Route Through Tara-Skyrne Valley
24th November 2004 (Press Release)
Irish Ferries (29/09/05)
“The attitude of Irish Ferries is indicative of the direction Ireland does not want to take. The company is attempting to depress wages, repress workers and bring us back to the future of a spailpín fánach type economy in which immigrants and foreign workers are exploited, Irish workers sacked and money taken from the taxpayer. This irresponsible company will make decent businesses uncompetitive and is a terrible reflection of our economy at international level. Irish Ferries will be at the bottom of the pile when I choose how I intend to travel abroad. This episode also demonstrates the importance of ensuring there are no monopolies. It is an appalling reflection on Ireland and indicates that we appear to have lost our way.
Irish Ferries is trying to turn legislation on redundancy on its head. Sacking an employee and replacing him or her a week later does not constitute redundancy. It is appalling that the management of Irish Ferries has proposed to contemptuously charge the taxpayer 60% of the costs it incurs in putting Irish workers out of work and recruiting foreign workers at rates of pay far lower than those agreed. Those who believe otherwise should apply the company's logic to their own position and imagine their reaction if they were told tomorrow they would be paid half their previous wage from Monday onwards and that the other extraordinary conditions being put to workers in Irish Ferries would apply.
Why would 70% of workers in the company indicate they wished to accept the deal put forward by management? The reason is terror and the company's policy of frightening people and panicking them into the lifeboats to protect themselves. Workers are worried about their families' future and whether they will have something in the bank for a rainy day. Perhaps they were never fully informed, which brings us back to the legislation before us. I note the selective use of information in the statements issued by Irish Ferries. They inform us, for example, that ferry car business decreased last year but do not bother to mention that freight business has increased significantly. They also failed to note that we are fast approaching the point at which our ports will no longer be able to cope with the level of exports and imports they are processing.
If Irish Ferries proceeds in the manner it proposes, Ireland would be better off without it and it would be preferable to try to find other employment for workers who wish to work elsewhere. We cannot countenance the company's proposals which were made immediately before negotiations begin on a possible new national partnership. They undermine trust and confidence. Little is required in the partnership process, whether on the part of IBEC on the management side, ICTU on the trade union side or the Government, to give sustenance to those who oppose agreement. Opponents will point to the actions of those on the other side and argue that the process will never work. Activity of the type proposed by Irish Ferries will reverberate around the trade union movement in the next couple of months and the company's name will be mentioned at every upcoming trade union meeting. Members will be asked why their trade unions should enter partnerships with employers or trust Irish business. Irish Ferries does not reflect business people in general. Most are happy to seek a decent profit, pay their workers a decent wage and remain competitive by arguing the toss between both.
Access to accounts and information in Irish Ferries would have prevented us from reaching the point we are at today. This attempt by Irish Ferries to make itself anti-competitive by undermining competition with taxpayers' money, so it can sack workers and employ and exploit foreign workers to undercut its competitors on other routes, is unfair under European legislation. It is unacceptable, anti-European and uncompetitive and we cannot put State money into it. If we need legislation to copper fasten that position, we should introduce it.
Legislation, however, should not be necessary. Our redundancy legislation cannot be stretched to achieve the outcome Irish Ferries desires. The European directives will not allow us to put money into a company which then, using that money, is in a position to undermine the competition. It is not on, we cannot allow this to happen. It is not something we should be part of and if it goes to the wire on Monday, we should make our position clear. All speakers in this House and people across the labour spectrum have indicated their worries about it. Management is doing this without indicating what level of pain it will soak up. How many people from Eastern Europe will be asked to run the company? None. This is an old fashioned anti-worker approach that we cannot accept.
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Dingle Name Change (15/06/05)
SO THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO FORCE AN UNWANTED NAME CHANGE ON THE PEOPLE OF DINGLE AND CORCA DHUIBHNE.
WHAT ABSOLUTE SEAFÓID.
NÍL ANSO ACH AIRGEAD Á gCUR AMÚ GO SCANNALLACH GAN PUINN MAITHEAS DON GHAELAINN NÓ MUINTIR NA GAELTACHTAÍ.
Consider how Gaeltacht and Breac Gaeltacht residents are deprived once again of normal citizens’ rights;-
· In Dublin recently the residents of a small street wanted to change the street name. Quite understandably they had to have a full referendum of all the residents before they were allowed to do so.
· A few short years ago the residents of the town officially known as Newtownsands in North Kerry wanted to change the name of the town to the more popular Moyvane. They had a referendum. They had an overwhelming majority in favour of change but, because the percentage of residents who turned out to vote was less than 66% of the electorate, they were not allowed change the name officially.
Contrast the democratic nature of those experiences with the situation in Gaeltacht towns where a non resident Minister sitting in a Dublin office can, at the stroke of a pen, with no consultation whatsoever and against the wishes of the residents and the local public representatives, change the traditional and globally recognised name of DINGLE to An DAINGEAN.
Talk about “ag cur airgid amú”. Rarely did the Gaeltachts need money as much as now and rarely has so much money been wasted so foolishly as by the Minister for the Gaeltacht who will spend hundreds of thousands of euros confusing the geography of the Gaeltacht area in a manner requested by nobody.
Look at the DINGLE situation…
· The fact that Dingle town and surroundings is bilingual is one of the area’s strongest assets – getting rid of English kills this, obviously.
· It is of no benefit whatever to the Gaeltacht people or An Teanga. How will the removal of “Dingle” from signposts help the Irish language?
· It would be more beneficial to invest in the local children’s education with classroom assistants etc or
· Invest in the currently totally under-resourced scheme “Cuntoirí Teanga” scheme. This is where parents take the time to do a course which trains them to teach the Irish language to schoolchildren. It is taught in a fun way and is a very successful scheme. However, due to it being under-resourced, it only runs for 2hours a week and finishes at Easter.
· Dingle depends very heavily on tourism. Tourism generates €100million a year to the local economy – 1million tourists visit the Dingle area every year. The people of Dingle want to make it easier for the tourist to find Dingle, not to totally confuse the tourist.
· 20 years ago fishing and agriculture were huge industries in Dingle. The Dingle people trusted the Government at the time to protect these industries but they didn’t. Why should they trust this Government to protect their primary industry now….tourism?
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Speaking in relation to the controversy over the National Days of Mourning (05/04/05), Senator Joe O'Toole had this to say:
Surely it is quite irrelevant how other countries mourn a loss. Of all the Nations on Earth, we’ve never had to look for advice on how to mourn.
Surely the traditional way for Irish people to show respect for and pay tribute to the dead is to recall, revisit and indeed enjoy their memorable lives.
We politicians know more about funerals than most and this is the positive lead we should be giving this week. Rather than merely lowering the flag over Leinster House and closing the Chambers, the Dail and Seanad should each meet in Special Sessions this week to allow Senators and TD¹s pay tribute, show respect and reflect the feelings of people we represent.
Today I have contacted the Office of the Seanad leader and Cathaoirleach asking them to recall the House for a Special Session on Thursday or Friday and do things the Irish way.
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Independent Senator Joe O’Toole Warns the Government on Probable Legal Action On Unqualified Teachers (08/03/05)
"Hard on the heels of the Nursing home scandal the State is once again playing with fire. The fact that more than 1000 Primary school pupils do not have a recognised, qualified and trained teacher in their classrooms is criminally negligent and is an open invitation to a legal challenge.
It is only a matter of time before some parents launch a successful class constitutional action against the Minister for Education for depriving their children of access to education by a recognised and qualified teacher.
The Irish constitution demands that the state “provide for free primary education”. This unequivocally implies professional standards of Primary education. In this, the State is remiss and is in neglect of its constitutional responsibility to the children of the Nation.
The Minister must act now to ensure that all teachers in primary schools are fully trained. Our children deserve no less."
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“It’s time to act Minister.” (22/02/05)Addressing the Seanad today, Senator Joe O’Toole said;
“ The pupils, teachers and parents of St. Dymphna’s and St. Nicholas’ Schools in Ballina, Co. Mayo are being treated disgracefully by the Department of Education.
Every indication is, that once again these schools, dealing with pupils with special needs, are going to be ignored and disregarded by the Minister for Education and Science and by her Department.
St. Nicholas’ School is a two-storey, semi-detached domestic building with 17pupils ranging in age from 4 to 17, with an extensive range of disabilities.
Only 6 of the 17 students are physically capable of climbing the stairs, therefore the majority must be taught downstairs.
The rooms are hopelessly inadequate for the needs of a school, particularly so in view of the increase of pupils with multiple disabilities, and their need for equipment for access to curriculum, seating, handling and movement.
In the present situation, it is impossible for the school to provide adequately for the pupils’ needs.
There are very serious safety issues with regard to the actual space available for each child, the lifting and handling facilities, changing and toileting facilities, and adequate supervision where classes have to be divided because of space and the staff must move from room to room.
Clearly, these pupils have special needs indeed.
Clearly, these schools should be on top of the Minister’s priority list.
Clearly, as a vulnerable group, these people have very little political influence.
It’s quite disgraceful that their needs are being ignored. How long does this have to continue? I call on the Minister to show a bit of heart and to prioritise the building programme of these schools so that they don’t face another year of appalling and unsuitable conditions. The disregard of special education is a serious embarrassment to Irish people at a time when they are producing the most successful economy in Europe.
So, here we are almost 2months into 2005 and the Minister has not yet announced the school building programme for the year. Consequently, all work is held up until she makes her announcement.
It’s time to act Minister.”
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Addressing reception to mark partnership between Development Cooperation Ireland and The Church of Ireland College of Education in Rathmines (27/01/05)
There is a huge burden of responsibility on us to present diversity of cultures, through education, legislation and persuasion as an adornment, enrichment and an embellishment of our society.
Racism and sectarianism are the twin evils which corrode our community and which will eat away at our structures unless we eliminate them. The racist reaction of too many Irish people in recent times to discovering that our booming economy had attracted hundreds of non Irish citizens to our country has reminded many of us in the Education world of our duty to educate against racism.
Those public representatives who were loudest and most indignant in their demands a short few years ago for a better deal for illegal Irish emigrants in the United States were strangely silent about the identical problems of our foreign immigrants in Ireland. We need, regularly, to remind ourselves that we for many years have been the spongers of Europe and have historically the lowest intake of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Can we adapt at home to what we did abroad for centuries? On a pro rata basis more Irish people have settled in other countries than almost any other race of people. During the last century, most of the Irish emigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the U.S. or at Gros Isle in Canada were apprehensive, uneducated, unwelcome and forced to live in horrific overcrowded conditions. They were resented by all except by their own ethnic group and struggled to find work, to gain acceptance and to achieve an acceptable standard of living.
Even today we can still feel angry when we hear of the “No Irish Need apply” type of attitude they faced all those years ago alone and afraid in a foreign country. Only a decade ago we read horrific stories of illegal Irish in the U.S. being exploited. We demanded fair treatment for them.
Ireland today has a small influx of immigrants and refugees each year. Many of them are from countries to which we sent missionaries and aid workers over the years. We were proud of that. We were also proud when Irish people were the highest per capita contributors to “Live Aid”. We must as teachers remind ourselves, and the younger generation, of this. Schools will be the first place where the children of immigrants will experience Irish attitudes. They will be from another culture, they may speak with a strange accent or their English may be poor. They may have a different skin colour. Their parents may not be able to communicate in English. They will be apprehensive. We must never forget that these were our great great-grand uncles and aunts arriving in North America from Irish Gaeltachts and Galltachts more than a century ago.
There is a huge burden of responsibility on us to present this diversity of cultures, through education, legislation and persuasion as an adornment, enrichment and an embellishment of our society. There are worrying indications that this might be difficult. There seems to be a ready market for the most sensationalised media presentation of immigration issues.
Racism is a function of an incomplete education. It was Newman who said that “Tolerance” was the first quality of an educated person. On this island at the moment, acceptance of difference, parity of esteem and the accommodation of different cultures is universally acknowledged as being the path to peaceful neighbourliness. Can we extend it also to immigrants?
A pluralist and inclusive society can never be in a passive state. There must be catalysts for increasing interaction and integration. This requires and implies proactive policies of learning through enrichment by other ethnic groups and thereby creating a context for the greater appreciation and development of one’s own culture. There must be in any civilised society arrangements ensuring the protection of and development of minority groups.
A healthy society is like a precious stone, multi faceted and formed by different attitudes, directions and reflections and developed over generations of maturation.
Ireland now has the opportunity of focusing its learned tolerance towards creating just such a community.
There are stages of development in a multicultural society. These stages are determined by the maturity of the community. The strongest, most innate and primeval instinct of any tribe or nation is that of self-perpetuation. The first and historical reaction to those who are different is to fell threatened and to reject them. Nowadays, this stage would be manifest regularly by fascist football supporters. The mature society quickly moves on from this savage state.
Firstly, there will be tolerance of difference. At this stage difference is no longer seen as threatening. It is a move onwards from the time when it was felt necessary to reject, ostracise or at least ridicule those with different skin colour, beliefs or religious practices. This is the “some of my best friends are .......”
Secondly there is the accommodation of difference stage. It manifests itself in worthy, well-intentioned initiatives at local level. Ecumenical ceremonies would be a good example. A closer examination of them usually proves that they are regularly driven by pragmatic necessity and that it is a joint or common approach to an event that was going to take place anyway with or without the churches. Weddings and funerals are good examples.
Thirdly, there is inclusivity which is the stage after tolerance and accommodation of difference.
This is the stage where the community pro-actively provides space for and promotes those outsiders who are different. It manifests itself in issues such as the establishment of schools and churches. The images of official support will also be there so the President opens the Muslim school and we are all pleased at our sophistication as a society which contentedly includes “others”. But whereas this eventually can open the way for a pluralist society it cannot of itself be described as “pluralist”. It is still merely inclusive. The analogy would be to a mixture of oil and water. No matter how long you leave them apparently mingled in the same glass they will still remain separate, unmixed and in the same hierarchical order each restricted to its own space. Nothing changes. Pluralism and inclusivity can never be achieved by separating groups or by reinforcing difference.
A society which merely creates its own space for each and every ethnic or cultural minority is not of itself pluralist. In fact too rigid an application of separateness is in fact no more than a benign apartheid.
The final stage is a pluralist community which must always be greater than the sum of its parts.
Pluralism will be defined and identified not just by the numbers or sum of its subcultures, religions or ethnic groups but more crucially by the quality of integration and interaction among and between them.
The clearest identification of a multicultural and genuinely pluralist society is the manner in which it is enriched by the normal societal interaction among people of different faiths, cultures, beliefs, practices, language and colour. In such a society minorities will be respected and included rather than preserved and separated. They will also be assimilated in a celebration of ethnicity rather than swallowed into the dull uniformity and anonymity of the monolithical objective of some social engineers.
Nationalism and Liberalism are, each in its own way, a threat to Pluralism. The Nationalism of the dominant group seeking to exclude or demean the minority groups is well documented. Difficulty is also created however by the Nationalism of members of minority groups who seek to remain always aloof from the majority and who will cry “assimilation” at the slightest attempt to bridge cultural differences or to lead them into the mainstream of the community. Adjustment to the norms of the society in which we find ourselves is a perfectly normal part of the dynamism of living in community.
Pluralism is and must remain quite distinct from the “Liberal agenda”.
“Liberal” is a mark of a pluralist society only in the sense of that society being open, tolerant and free. Seeking to create a society where everyone shares the same so-called “liberal” views on the issues of the day is the very antithesis of Pluralism. Similarly, in a true pluralist society, those Liberals who sneer at or mock Conservative Catholics must be treated with the same anathema as those who ridicule the culture of immigrants.
Pluralism is the full spectrum whereas Liberalism is only a segment of the spectrum. In fact a good test of the Pluralist society is that it provides a supportive environment even for those to whom the very notion of pluralism is anathema.
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STATEMENT FROM INDEPENDENT SENATOR JOE O'TOOLE (24/01/05)
So the Revenue has backed down in the face of my statement of last week. Well that is welcome but sorry Commissioners,it is not enough. It is simply not acceptable that within the PAYE system THERE SHOULD BE A CLANDESTINE STEALTH TAX WHICH HAS BEEN OVERCHARGING DECENT, HONEST, COMPLIANT TAXPAYERS FOR YEARS.
Despite being pushed by me, on a number of occasions over the past few weeks The Revenue Commissioners were loathe to give any information on the matter of Tax Overpayments by PAYE workers. Getting any statistics about it from them was like drawing hens’ teeth. Finally, however, after I made a Public Statement on the issue they were clearly embarrassed into making a number of admissions.
This is what I have managed to establish;
· That whereas Revenue do prepare a list of PAYE workers who have underpaid their taxes and bill them for the outstanding amounts they do not check ordinary PAYE workers annual tax returns for overpayments.
· That the Revenue could, if they so wished, at the press of a button also create a list of those Taxpayers who have overpaid their taxes.
· That Tax Law prevents the Revenue from returning overpaid taxes unless the individual taxpayer makes a specific claim for it.
· That this Rip-Off has been going on for as long as there has been a PAYE system and Taxpayers have never been made aware of it.
Consider that as late as last Thursday afternoon, the Revenue
Commissioners were adopting a “we can’t for the life of us see what the problem is” kind of attitude.
As late as Thursday they were pooh-poohing the idea that there was any significance to the matter.
As late as Thursday they were also giving me to understand that even if there was a particular amount taken unbeknown to the taxpayers the Revenue had no idea of how much was involved.
Contrast this with their position on Friday.
Within hours of my making the Statement on National Media see www.joeotoole.net - the Revenue Commissioners finally put their hands up and conceded that PAYE workers did lie to the loss of a significant amount of money and that the Revenue would be bringing forward a proposal in the Finance Bill to facilitate the return of such money. Within hours also estimates of possible amounts ranging from more than 100 Million Euro to almost Half a Billion Euro began to emerge.
I NOW DEMAND THAT THE PRECISE AMOUNTS OF OVERPAYMENTS OWING TO PAYE WORKERS, OVER THE PAST DECADES, BE CALCULATED AND RETURNED TO THEM.
There must be fairness and balance in the taxation system. Ordinary compliant taxpayers must be reassured that they can trust the Revenue to look after their interests. I have today written to the Chair of the Leinster House Joint Finance
Committee asking that the Revenue Commissioners be invited before the Committee to clarify all of this on the record and to outline the corrective and remedial measures that they will put in place.
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STATEMENT FROM INDEPENDENT SENATOR JOE O’TOOLE (21/01/05)
Member of Joint Finance & Public Services Committee, Leinster House.
It would appear that ordinary PAYE workers are annually being ripped off by The Revenue Commissioners.
I would like to be proved wrong but all the indications support the contention.
The truth is that that most people do not like getting involved with the Revenue. There is always the fear that it could lead to trouble. Leave them alone.
It is also a fact that people tend to trust the Revenue. They get their Tax Free Allowance certificates at the start of the year. Their employer implements it. Then at the end of year the P60 certificate outlining the Tax paid is issued. It all looks official and trustworthy. But what we do not receive is a Tax Balancing certificate. We are entitled to ask for one but it does not issue automatically.
Following a number of discussions with representatives of the Revenue Commissioners, here is what I have discovered….
After the end of each financial year the Revenue computer processes the tax returns of PAYE workers in every employment in the State. This process lists all those who have underpaid their taxes and kick starts a procedure to collect the outstanding amounts. Fine.
This begs the question as to what happens in the cases of those who have overpaid their taxes? AND THE ANSWER IS ASTONISHING. Because according to the Revenue Commissioners they have programmed their computer only to identify underpayments. They do not program the computer to identify OVERPAYMENTS!!!!!!
I believe this to be maladministration.
But it gets worse.
They say it would be a waste of time doing so… And why? Well because don¹t you know that Section 865 of the Tax Consolidation Act prevents the Revenue from returning Tax OVERPAYMENTS unless the taxpayer lodges a formal claim for its return. [They tell me that there are some small exceptions to this but they are insignificant].
I believe the net impact of this could be astronomical.
How much is involved? Well I don't know but more worryingly the Revenue don¹t know.
If to take a most conservative estimate we were to say since 1990 that 5% [1 in 20] of the State's 1.75Million PAYE payers overpaid by the equivalent of a mere 7 Euro per month that would accumulate to more than 100Million Euro being robbed from taxpayers.
But this is a pure uninformed estimate it could just as easily be hundreds of Millions.
The worst part of it is that the Revenue, whom we entrust to collect due taxes cannot tell me the actual amounts. But it is reasonable to extrapolate that the amounts involved in all probability puts in the shade the recent overcharging and related scandals in the NIB and AIB.
How can anyone have confidence in the PAYE system after this?
All of this is outrageous, unacceptable and must be fully investigated.
Who is responsible and what can be done?
1. I will be raising this at the meeting of the Joint Finance
Committee in Leinster House and I will be proposing that the Revenue
Commissioners be called before the Committee to explain fully the position and to indicate the Corrective and Redress measures that they can put in place.
2. I will be demanding that each taxpayer should now be issued with an annual TAX BALANCING STATEMENT ASAP after the end of the tax year.
3. I will be insisting that the Revenue Computer processing of PAYE
be programmed also to identify OVERPAYMENTS.
4. I will be proposing that the ridiculous Section 865 of the Tax
Consolidation Act, which prevents the Revenue from returning Tax overpayment except following a claim, be rescinded immediately.
5. Crucially I want the Revenue to undertake a check back of
PAYE accounts over past years and to guarantee that all OVERPAYMENTS will be repaid with same Interest rate level as applied to defaulters.
And
6. I believe that taxpayers are due an apology and an assurance that this totally unacceptable and unfair practice be discontinued immediately.
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DOES ANYBODY CARE THAT A BANK (NIB) FOUND TO HAVE AIDED AND ABETTED SYSTEMATIC TAX EVASION, IS NOW GOING TO BID US FAREWELL WITH 1 BILLION EURO SALTED AWAY AND NOT A QUESTION ASKED?
Senator Joe O’Toole demands that the NIB Report be discussed and examined by the Oireachtas.
Senator Joe O’Toole, a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and Public Service, has this week demanded that the NIB (National Irish Bank) Report be discussed and examined in the Oireachtas and that representatives of the NIB are called before the Finance Committee of Leinster House.
The report by IFSRA on AIB on Tuesday brings to mind the report by the High Court Inspectors into NIB, which was published over the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2004.
As with the AIB, the NIB Report concerned issues relating to overcharging of customers, failures in systems and controls, and unauthorized imposition of interest and charges to customers. It found that this took place on a systematic and widespread basis.
The NIB report also featured allegations of systematic tax evasion and the aiding and abetting of tax evasion by a licensed bank. There were serious findings made against named executives in the bank, including a former CEO, a number of senior managers and a member of the Oireachtas.
The NIB Report was described by the Tanaiste as deeply disturbing and that it showed an astonishing catalogue of systematic overcharging and tax evasion.
The Report was referred to IFSRA, the DPP and the Revenue Commissioner for further action, but nothing further has been heard about the report since August. In particular, it has not been debated by the Oireachtas, either in terms of a full plenary debate or in the Finance Committee. The bank has commenced a process of compensating customers for overcharging.
The bank, currently in the process of being sold, has never attended any public forum to give its response to the Report. If the sale proceeds, any new owners cannot be held accountable for the sins of the current owners and the matter will escape parliamentary scrutiny and probable further regulatory scrutiny or sanction.
This bank (NIB) will now be sold for a profit of approximately 1 Billion Euro.
Does anybody care that a bank found to have aided and abetted systematic tax evasion is now going to bid us farewell with 1 Billion Euro salted away and not a question asked??
I want these people called to account before the elected public representatives of the Dail and the Seanad. Consumers, taxpayers and the community at large deserve no less.
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IT IS UNNECESSARY TO DESPOIL THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF THE TARA AREA TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEW M3 MOTORWAY. Instead, we can literally have our cake and eat it.We can build the motorway ansd still protect our heritage. It is simply a matter of being sensitive and practical.
There is no need to oppose the construction of the M3 Motorway nor do we need to slow its development. This is an attempt to ensure a practical approach to finding an acceptable middle line between the National Roads Authority [NRA] on the one hand who wish to drive ahead with their current Route proposals and on the other side those Lobby Groups who wish to protect important parts of our heritage by putting forward a reasonable alternative to the proposed route.
Over the years the green-welly-wearing, tweed-jacketed, urban types have often unreasonably opposed to developments that were crucial to the viability of local communities. It might be argued that they have sometimes brought the democratic process of objecting into disrepute.
Burren Centre, Ionad Oidhreachta na mBlascaod in West Kerry, Carrickmines. An Taisce has not covered itself in glory in its approach to the complex issue of Rural Housing.
Sometimes one feels that in ensuring the protection of a citizen’s democratic right to object we have created a hydra that seems to grow a new head every time one avenue of objection is cut off. It is not difficult to understand the frustration of Government in this matter. Indeed this House supported the recent legislation that gave the Minister additional powers to bring to a just conclusion issues such as Carrickmines.
There may now be a temptation in Government to write off the Tara Skryne group as a bit of a nuisance but that would be a grave mistake. Each issue must be considered separately
It is our duty to be practical, sensible and positive and to ask the Government to be sensitive and responsible. The fact is that we need a new motorway to replace the existing, inadequate N3 and that it will have to be routed through Meath is certain. This is a given and is uncontested. County Meath has had to accept more Motorway intrusion than any other county; the M1 through East Meath; the M2 through Ashbourne to Slane and; the M4 through Enfield.
These proposals were generally accepted and are to be welcomed and are adding greatly to the improvement of the National Roads infrastructure. Now it will have to accept the new M3 also. But we must hope, not in its current conception.
The M1, M2 and M4 created no real problem by their location. In fact it is not widely known that the construction of these motorways has produced and unearthed incredibly important archaeological evidence that has been to our collective benefit. This is something to be recognised, valued and celebrated and all these findings should be published in a full scientific publication to the highest international standard.
If that was good the next bit is bad. Unfortunately that part of the M3 route proposed through the Tara Skryne valley is wrong, wrong, fundamentally wrong. All the archaeological evidence offered prior to the Environmental Impact Statement recognised the importance of the Tara Skyrne cultural landscape and unequivocally urged that that area be avoided when the motorway route was being determined.
Whoever it was at the National Roads Authority, who defined Tara as the hilltop only is completely uninformed and dangerously ignorant of the reality of the area. This is a wide cultural landscape embracing a huge importance in the areas of Archaeology, History and Celtic Studies. This is different from Carrickmines which may well be dealt with through excavation and recording. The Government must intervene and have the route changed.
There is no reason why the motorway cannot be rerouted away from Tara. We are talking about a detour that would be no more than 3 miles. Yes, it would be costly but in the context of the centrality of this location to our national identity, history and our sense of what we are, IT WOULD BE CHEAP AT THE PRICE.
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