Mick Wallace TD faces Dáil censure after admitting under-declaration of VAT offence
Wexford independent TD Mick Wallace is facing potential censure by his Dáil colleagues and a possible criminal prosecution over his admitted under-declaration of VAT payments by his construction firm.
Fellow members of the Dáil technical group last night joined in the condemnation of his €2.1 million settlement with the Revenue Commissioners, while Fine Gael and Labour TDs called on him to consider his position.
Mr Wallace faces up to five years’ imprisonment if prosecuted and convicted over his under-declaration of VAT over a two-year period.Revenue would take into account his admission that he is unable to pay the sum owed in deciding whether to pursue him through the courts. His co-operation would serve as a mitigating factor.
Meanwhile, arrangements are being made for an early meeting of the Dáil Committee on Procedures and Privileges, which is likely to consider a motion of censure or suspension from the Dáil over his behaviour.
Under the agreement with Revenue, MJ Wallace Ltd, which is 99 per cent owned by Mr Wallace, was found to have under-declared VAT by €1.418 million. With interest and penalties, the settlement came to €2.13 million. Mr Wallace last night rejected calls for his resignation from the Dáil. “That’s a matter for the people of Wexford. It’s not for other political parties or the media to call for my head,” he said. “If I thought the people of Wexford didn’t want me to represent them any more I would walk.”
While his tax issues had presented people a useful opportunity to give him “a good kicking”, he said he had been “showered” with messages of goodwill from his constituents.
Mr Wallace was heavily criticised at an emergency meeting of technical group members yesterday but his colleagues were initially reluctant to comment publicly on the issue.
However, in a sign of the rising pressure on the Wexford TD, nine members of the technical group outside the United Left Alliance, including Shane Ross and Finian McGrath, last night issued a statement critical of his behaviour.
“We do not condone his behaviour, we believe he has done wrong and that he should be equally accountable as any other TD or ordinary Irish citizen,” the group stated. However, members insisted there was no question mark over Mr Wallace’s membership of the group, saying anyone in the Dáil who was not aligned to a political party was automatically entitled to membership.
For the United Left Alliance, Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins insisted there were no issues for the group arising from Mr Wallace’s non-compliance on tax but said he should pay the money due from whatever resources he had. People before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said Mr Wallace should be ordered to pay the money in instalments, as was the practice with people who owed social welfare money.
Mr Wallace pointed out that Revenue had categorised his behaviour as careless rather than deliberate. “I came forward, I told them the exact truth and they believed my story. People forget I put everything in place until ACC moved against me.”
He again stressed he didn’t have an expensive lifestyle. His apartment in Nice had been sold to pay debts and as much was owed on an apartment in Turin as it was worth. He travelled to Italy on tickets bought well in advance for €100.
“I have nothing, but that doesn’t bother me as long as I have my health.”
Mr Wallace, an ardent soccer fan, plans to travel today to Euro 2012 in Poland.
Big fears for Ireland’s pensioners after residential care 24-hour nursing changes
Above photo Prof McCormack, Director of Nursing Research at the University of Ulster, and middle photo Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State with responsibility for Older People.
Older people in residential care in Ireland may be at risk following the government’s removal of the requirement for 24-hour qualified nursing care, a leading nursing organisation has claimed.
The move has been described as a step into the dark by Professor Brendan McCormack, president of The All-Ireland Gerontological Nurses Association (AIGNA) at their annual conference in Cork.
The recently-enacted amendment to the Health Act 2007 removes both the requirement for 24-hour nursing care and the need for qualified gerontological nurses to be in charge of certain designated care centres for older people.
Prof McCormack, Director of Nursing Research at the University of Ulster, was speaking at the fourth annual AIGNA conference in the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork today.
The conference was opened by Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State with responsibility for Older People.
AIGNA represents the older people’s nursing sector throughout Ireland and promotes healthy ageing and well being through the advancement of excellence in the sector.
The amendments to the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) were recently signed into law without either consultation or a clear strategy path, according to Prof McCormack.
AIGNA is concerned about the amendments which apply to centres that provide care to those who have been assessed as not requiring full-time nursing care.
“Under the amendments, the person in charge is now not required to be a nurse with the minimum of three years’ experience in gerontological nursing within the previous six years,” said Prof McCormack.
“Furthermore, the designated centre is not required to have an appropriately qualified nurse on duty and in charge of the centre at all times.
“We feel that these are dangerous steps which can only have a detrimental effect on the people that we care for.
“Both amendments state that the management of the centres must provide that the assessed needs of the residents are met at all times, but this just does not make sense to our members.
“Does it now mean that nurses are required to be on 24-hour call to attend when required, and if so, who is qualified to make that decision? This seems ill-thought out and a step into the dark by Minister Reilly.
“There is no nationally validated tool with which to select which residences, or even residents, require 24-hour care – therefore the process is subjective.
“If a resident now deteriorates and requires full-time nursing care, they face the prospect of being moved to a new home.
“This is in direct contravention of the concept of person-centred care and the denial of the human rights of a person to age in a place of their choosing – their home.
“On a broader front, if there is no requirement for a nurse with a minimum of three years’ experience in the area of gerontological nursing, then who will monitor residents’ ongoing health needs?
“How are centres without a full-time nurse expected to comply with regulatory requirements, particularly in the area of medication management?
“This may lead to decreased outcomes for residents facing emergency situations such as heart attacks and strokes, and also an increase in inappropriate hospital attendances, which is detrimental to the people we care for.”
Donegal-born businessman on the Wall Street 50 best paid executives list
A Donegal-born businessman has been named as one of the 50 best-paid executives on Wall Street.
Liam McGee is CEO of Hartford Financial Services, one of the biggest insurance and wealth-management firms in the US.
He turned down the chance to run the bailed-out Allied Irish Banks (AIB), where salaries are capped at €500,000 a year.
Before he joined the US firm in 2009 Mr McGee was tipped as the front-runner to manage AIB.
However, it would have meant signing up for a maximum €500,000-a-year salary and Mr McGee took the job at Hartford instead where his starting salary was $1.1m in 2009, and has since risen to $1.4m.
Last year his take-home pay was $7.9m after bonuses of $6.5m.
He was ranked as the 39th best paid US financial services executive according to research by Bloomberg.
Mr McGee moved to the US at a young age and is little known outside the banking world.
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