Sir, - It is time to nail the great lies now pervading media coverage of the tribunal revelations.
1. We are not all guilty. I was never offered the opportunity to vote for any of those named to date in either local or national elections, and no voter has any input into either the election of Taoiseach or the appointment of Ministers. These are exclusively the responsibility of the members of Dail Eireann.
2. It is not the fault of "greedy builders" but of those politicians willing and available to be bought.
3. We cannot shift the blame to the usual suspects: the Famine, the Brits, Europe. Just one or two generations removed from independence, our own have corrupted the core of our sovereignty and still struggle to restrict further revelations.
I challenge Messrs Ahern, Bruton and Quinn to debate in the Dail a proposal to immediately enact legislation to permit the following:
removal of the pension and State car/driver from C. J. Haughey who failed to pay his due taxes for over 20 years;
removal of the pension entitlement and current salary from Mr D. Foley for tax evasion over a similar period;
removal of Mr G. Redmond's pension for identical crimes.
Yes, these are crimes and the biggest crime is that I have to continue paying tax to fund these admitted fraudsters.
One last request to all commentators: spare us the insult of repeating that Frank Dunlop has "done the State some service". He has, under oath, told a story, as yet untested by either cross-examination or challenge. He could have filed this information by way of statement two years ago.
The Dail must act, by way of direction to the tribunals, that persons who obstruct or delay providing information, shall not receive any legal fees and shall face financial levies to recoup costs for those of us to continue to finance, through our taxes, the extraordinary generous legal costs paid out on every challenge to the authority of the tribunals and courts.
In the meantime, the squabble over the Beef Tribunal fees continues, with lawyers deciding what lawyers are worth. - Yours, etc.,
Ted Murphy, Ballincollig, Co Cork.