Public Accounts chief lashes out at those who 'forgot obligations'

gigino

"Unions and civil service 'seduced by greasy till'
THE head of the state's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Fianna Fail's John McGuinness, has said that senior civil servants seduced by the "tinkling of the greasy till" abandoned their posts during the boom and pursued their own interests before those of the Irish people.

Mr McGuinness said that greed was allowed to take hold and the fabric of Irish society was "torn apart", in a hard-hitting address at a Dublin function last week.
He described a country where people were on the take and forgot their duty. He said that those who were in charge of managing the ship "still have serious questions to answer".
Mr McGuinness also heavily criticised trade unions for a lack of transparency when it came to their financial affairs, during his speech about the future of Ireland.
He said: "Hands were either in gloves or washing one another; nods, winks and nudges were the order of the day; guard dogs did not bark and conflicts of interest were ignored. While the smell of burnt fingers, charred egos and incinerated wealth hangs over Ireland, we should all take time to contemplate and accept our mistakes," he said.
But he specifically criticised the role of top civil servants, whom he described as the chief beneficiaries of the boom.
"Seduced by the tinkling of what Yeats called the 'greasy till'," top civil servants and politicians forgot "our obligations to each other, to our country and to our children's future", he said.
"When governments spent, opposition parties called for more and trade unions asked for more, and were given more; which largely went into the pay packets of senior civil servants who in many cases were doing the country a lot less service than they were doing themselves," he said.
Mr McGuinness said that we have sought to blame everyone from German banks to rapacious builders for the country's demise, but the real cause was "the absence of good governance in many areas, and the lack of backbone that makes that possible".
He added: "Voices that should have been loud and powerful advocates for good governance, caution and rigour, whispered or stayed silent, as hares were let sit and kings walked naked."
He also called on private sector professionals like auditors and accountants who are often engaged by various organs of the State to properly insulate themselves against "conflicts of interest".
But some of his toughest words were for the trade unions, whom he said had questions to answer over their openness when it came to their financial affairs.
"There is growing concern among senior union officials, who have written to me about systems of financial control in unions, and recent events have highlighted this," he said.
"Given the substantial sums of public money many of them deal with, ignoring the question of whether unions are charities is like being satisfied that Bo Peep can look after a pride of lions," he added.
He concluded by saying that Ireland needs "straight talking, hard facts and decisions devoid of spin" but he questioned whether political leaders have the stomach for such measures.
He also said that we must tackle sacred cows like the Croke Park deal if Ireland is to recover.
"The long grass [into] which generations of politicians, senior public servants and trade union leaders have kicked every ball that looked vaguely like a hot potato is no longer acceptable. That long grass is now home to a number of sacred cows, the biggest of which is the Croke Park Agreement," he said."
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/unions-and-civil-service-seduced-by-greasy-till-3031895.html

Interesting points raised there about the real cause was "the absence of good governance in many areas, and the lack of backbone that makes that possible". Why blame everyone from German banks to rapacious builders when they were just playing within the rules? If they broke the rules or done anything illegial they should face big fines or be in jail, but that has not happened, so the real cause of the country's difficulties are those who were well paid to serve the public but who failed to do so ( regulator, central bank, dept of finance , government, "social partners" ).
Three cheers for the Public Accounts Chief for saying it as it is.

2011abc

Article/speech lost ALL credibility after "Fianna Fail"...

Doc Ruby

2011abc wrote: »

Article/speech lost ALL credibility after "Fianna Fail"...

Also in the Sindo, can't beat that combination... with that said he does make some good points.

SerialComplaint

It's a good job that McGuinness himself has no responsibility for how things went wrong at all.

I mean if he were (just for example) a senior member of the party that has been running the country for 17 of the last 18 years, or maybe (just for example) a Minister in the Govt for part of that period, he might bear some personal responsibility for how things went wrong - right?

But no, it's a great relief to see that it's all the other boy's fault.

gigino

2011abc wrote: »

Article/speech lost ALL credibility after "Fianna Fail"...

The opposite if anything, because the "senior civil servants seduced by the "tinkling of the greasy till" and who "abandoned their posts during the boom and pursued their own interests before those of the Irish people" did so under the eyes / watch of the Fianna Fail govt in power.
Read the article and evaluate it for what it says, not because of the political affiliation, religion or skin colour of someone.

KerranJast

2011abc wrote: »

Article/speech lost ALL credibility after "Fianna Fail"...

Tbf to him he was saying a lot of this during the boom and was a bit of a pariah in FF because of it.

Park Royal

So its true then "power" corrupts.....

TeddyTedson

I colour too

mikemac1

John McGuinness has form and one of these days he's going to quit the party and become an independent

He's always clashing with the FF leadership, I'm surprised they haven't kicked him out yet

Logical Fallacy

mikemac1 wrote: »

John McGuinness has form and one of these days he's going to quit the party and become an independent

He's always clashing with the FF leadership, I'm surprised they haven't kicked him out yet

Indeed, he has long been the fly in their ointment.

squod

gigino wrote: »

Three cheers for the Public Accounts Chief for saying it as it is.

He's still part of the problem. He's one fuhken despicable chancer willing to grass his mates to save his ass.

gigino

squod wrote: »

He's still part of the problem.

At least he is pointing out where the problem is.

the real cause was "the absence of good governance in many areas, and the lack of backbone that makes that possible". Why blame everyone from German banks to rapacious builders when they were just playing within the rules?

Pandora2

I have time for McG, he was vocal during FF's tenure and paid the price within his own party. The fact that he remains a TD is down to his being outspoken on matters regarding the incompetence of his own administration and the respect that afforded him in his own constituency!! The lovely girl hated him with a genuine passion!!

FF and their cohorts revved up the rewards for elected representatives and as all elected positions within the Oireachtas are based on Civil Servant payscales. Well, they couldn't look after themselves without enhancing the Civil Service pay grade structure, pensions et al:eek: now could they!! Everytime they sought fiscal reward for their own efforts they had to buy off the Unions....this shower are no better given their performance to date!!

squod

gigino wrote: »

At least he is pointing out where the problem is.

the real cause was "the absence of good governance in many areas, and the lack of backbone that makes that possible". Why blame everyone from German banks to rapacious builders when they were just playing within the rules?

Think your confusing criminal complicity with the absence of good governance.