Shane Ross on Declan Collier and the DAA

JHMEG

Anyone hear some of the snippets from the Transport Committee of Declan Collier on the radio last week? I thought for a public servant he was quite defiant, refusing to answer questions put to him.

Shane Ross wrote about it in the Indo:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/shane-ross/shane-ross-declan-soars-as-daa-crashes-2236694.html

AlekSmart

I too read Shane Ross`s piece and immediately drew the same comparison with Alan Dukes`s petulant sneering performance.

Why,I wonder,when we reputedly have a functioning democratic Parliamentary System,are the Citizenry entirely dependant on "a few good men" to ask pertinent questions of the well placed elite represented by Dukes,Collier and a few more ?

I have met Shane Ross on a number of occassions and I admire how he operates as a Public Representative.

He tends to stick with the topics he has knowledge of and uses that knowledge to expose the often total lack of it in those he questions.

One does not need to be a Shane Ross supporter to see the essential good-sense in asking direct probing questions of these elitist few Captain`s of Industry who have suddenly found themselves in charge of stricken bulk-tankers full of lead with a Typhoon fast approaching.

Ross`s Senate performances are on a level far and above the general Oireachtas one,but in reality it is merely where Irish Parliamentary methodology SHOULD be.

Instead at Dáil level we are left to rely on the mutterings,mumblings and wild-eyed ravings of the likes of Brian Cowen,Jackie Healy-Rae and a hundred others whom few people ever hear a squeak out of until their own parish pump is threatened with drought.

Shane Ross`s performances are the single most important reason for retaining Seanad Eireann and I hope that people come to realize that the Seanad may be the only place where Democratic Principles continue to be utilized in seeking answers to the thousands of questions as yet unanswered by the fraudsters who have destroyed this country future.

The laws relating to appearances beforee Oireachtas Committee`s needs substantial bolstering NOW.
Testimony before such committees needs to be treated with the respect it thoroughly deserves and those required to attend need to realize that the omerta code will not be accepted by the Citizens whm the Committee represents.

Oh well...probably a wee bit too much to expect today ....?

paddyland

It's not so much whether it's the Dáil, or the Seanad, or whatever forum. The real question is why public representation seems to attract so few Shane Rosses, and so many Berties and Ivors and Beverleys and Willies and Bulls and Rambos and other grossly discreditable types. The Dáil and the Seanad are only as good as the people in it, and over a decade of FF stuffing 'their' people to the rafters in it, have created a rot in the system which will be very hard to reverse.