Mick Wallace must give up his seat in the Dail as motion of censure threatens
When deputies return from their summer holidays next month, the Dail will debate a motion of censure on the independent TD for Wexford, Mick Wallace. No doubt the motion will be adopted.
And no doubt he will ignore the slap on the wrist and continue to sit in the Dail.
But does Deputy Wallace retain the moral right to sit there?
He has admitted that he under-declared €1.4m in VAT in his construction company, now in liquidation. He has made a settlement of €2.1m with the Revenue Commissioners.
He will give up half his Dail salary of €92,000 a year. In theory, the Revenue will be paid off in 87 years. Since the deputy most assuredly will not hold his seat for 87 years, the taxpayers will be at a loss.
Meanwhile, the director of corporate enforcement, Paul Appleby, has said that he does not propose to investigate Mr Wallace’s tax default.
Why not? Among the deputies who would like an answer to this question is Tom Barry, Fine Gael TD for Cork East. He wants a “rational explanation” why the director does not have the power to investigate.
Inquiry or no inquiry, should Mr Wallace resign his Dail seat?
Of course he should. But that is not enough.
Similar activities have gone unpunished in the past.
The members should review the antiquated rules and set better and stricter guidelines for the future.
Pat Rabbitte gives order to Cardinal Brady to stay out of the abortion row
The Irish cabinet is set to be rocked by a fresh abortion debate as Ministers today were taking on the head of the Catholic Church Cardinal Brady who has been warned to stay out of the debate.
But as first revealed in the Herald last month the row within Cabinet could be just as contentious as the church-state divide.
This newspaper reported last month how Health Minister James Reilly was warned by his own TDs not to promote an abortion agenda as it would “rip Fine Gael apart”.
Now Laobur’s Communications Minister, Pat Rabbitte, has spoken out in response to Cardinal Sean Brady’s promise of an all-out assault to counter any new abortion legislation.
The Government is expected to legislate on abortion following a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling.
But Dr Brady said the Church thinks “a referendum is the only solution” and would vigorously resist any moves to bring in abortion with members of the Church lobbying TDs.
“We would have a media campaign, we would be lobbying public representatives and also hope to write a pastoral letter on this situation,” he said.
“We would want to inform people of the ills of abortion.”
Mr Rabbitte, however, said he was “surprised” when he heard “the cardinal’s reference to lobbying and engaging, canvassing public representatives”.
“I don’t welcome the cardinal promising to engage in the political campaign,” Mr Rabbitte told RTE.
He also said the Government saw no necessity to have a referendum. Mr Rabbitte said he was surprised at the Primate’s reference to lobbying and canvassing politicians.
“I think it would be a retrogressive step to go back to the days of the Catholic Church dictating to elected public representatives how it should address an issue,” he added.
A 14-member group is due to report back to Health Minister James Reilly on the implications of a 2010 European Court of Human Rights ruling on Irish abortion laws.
RSA report gives Sligo a second place in league table of test centre’s pass rates
New figures show a significant variation between pass rates at driving test centres around the country.
A report by the Road Safety Authority shows a 28% gap between the highest and lowest ranking test centres, which means your chances of passing the test could depend on where you live.
The unpublished report shows significant variation in pass rates at test centres around the country.
Ennis has the highest pass rate, at almost 68%, with Sligo and Clifden coming in second and third.
However, Kilkenny comes in at the other end of the scale with the lowest pass rate at almost 40%, just after Finglas and Rathgar in Dublin.
The RSA has defended the figures, saying they are in line with other countries and depend on the number of people tested which can vary greatly between test centres.
It also said the introduction of mandatory driving lessons is expected to significantly improve pass rates.
Refusing a job and training offers means a dole cut for 1,275 people
Over 1,275 jobless people have had their benefits cut – because they failed to take-up work or training offers.
The Department of Social Protection said today that while there is a right to a payment, there was also a matching responsibility on the unemployed person ‘’to engage’’.
But today the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed told RTE’s News at One that ‘’penalising those who are unemployed should be a last resort’’.
Spokesperson Bríd O’Brien said the bigger issue facing those who are unemployed was the lack of quality education places.
The Department introduced a measure last April, where jobseeker payments would be cut by €44 a week.
The reduction is for those who refuse to take-up training offers, employment opportunities or job interviews.
Since then, over 1,200 such payments have been reduced.
The highest rate of jobseeker benefit is €188, which can be cut by €44.
Lower rates of benefit face lower, proportional cuts.
The penalty applies only to an individual’s personal jobseeker payments.
No penalty is applied to any additional payments relating to adult or child dependants.
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