A chara, – I am, or was, a self-employed person for many years until this May, when my business finally succumbed to the recession. Two years of high costs, pay cuts and punitive levies meant that my customers basically hadn’t enough money available to buy my products. I am now fortunate to have secured some part-time work and am trying to make ends meet. I find myself for the first time in my life, aged 55, in arrears for everything and it’s a terrible blow to my self esteem and a threat to my good name and reputation.
I just listened to part of the Seanad committee inquiry into Ivor Callely on RTÉ Radio 1. Questioned about his expenses, his pat answer was that he did nothing wrong.
It is not I who have said his expense claims were misrepresented, but his own peers. The man is a disgrace and in my opinion has absolutely no conscience or sense of responsibility to his country as a public representative. I do hope that he will be sacked and forced to repay the money. I also hope that others will be exposed likewise.
It is precisely because of this type of attitude by him and others of his ilk that the Government had to introduce levies, etc, to bolster the coffers. These people have milked our system to the last and have put people like me out of business.
Our country has become morally bankrupt and we are a sad shadow of our past image.
We really do need to get over this reluctance to identify and punish wrongdoers, even if they are in the highest echelons of our society. Until we can do so, the privileged and protected members of our society will continue to plunder our economy and display two fingers to the nation. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – I have a good idea for solving Ivor Callely’s problems. How about donating the €81,000 of taxpayers’ money to an organisation that gives assistance to people who don’t have two homes, who don’t even have one home, who in fact have no home? I feel sure that the majority of taxpayers would agree to this suggestion, and I am certain that the Simon Community would have no objections either. – Is mise,