It was the blatant, up-front demand for planning-related bribes that made the RTÉ Investigates programme so absorbing. It reflected a seam of corruption that planning tribunals had traced through all levels of Irish political life over a 20-year period and that continues to enrich developers and corrupt politicians. The crude – ‘what’s in it for me?’ – question by an over-confident rural councillor might differ from the cautious sophistication of a bent city representative. But the outcome is similar.
For so long as the laws dealing with standards in public life, perjury and white-collar crime remain rooted in cultural ambiguity, corruption will flourish. That is part of the political problem. The other part has to do with dishonest developers and businessmen, those wealthy individuals who stand to gain most from corrupt transactions. Because direct evidence of giving or taking a bribe is required in criminal prosecutions, they invariably escape sanction. Even where tribunals record the transfer of large amounts of dodgy money, the biggest threat to them comes from the Revenue Commissioners.
There has been little appetite for reform. Weak and inadequate criminal laws have been complemented by poor police enforcement. A report from the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, at present with the Government, found the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is “struggling” to deal with the volume of suspicious financial transactions reported to it and that its investigations are sometimes conducted without the necessary skills or resources. What does that say about the priorities of recent governments?
Some will blame the Standards in Public Office Commission for not being more forceful in its role as public watchdog. That would be a mistake. SIPO does what it is permitted to do under the law, which is very little. In the absence of a formal complaint, it cannot conduct an inquiry if it suspects an offence has been committed. A decade ago, SIPO chairman Judge Matthew P Smith asked for permission to investigate matters of "significant public importance" in the absence of a written complaint, while promising not to engage in "fishing expeditions". Bertie Ahern, who later resigned from Fianna Fáil because of his own financial arrangements, rejected that request in the Dáil. Amending legislation has been drafted by this Government but is unlikely to become law before the election.
Safeguards lack bite at both local and national level. If public representatives fail to formally identify all of their property or business interests, they are asked to correct the record. No penalties are applied. That must change. In addition, all such returns – at council and national levels – should be made available for inspection online. Transparency guards against conflicts of interest and corruption.