'Like HIQA investigating a mass shooting in a hospital',- McManus on ODCE/Anglo role

[He3]

Asking the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to investigate Anglo is like asking the Health Information Quality Authority to investigate a mass shooting at a hospital. John McManus deserves a cheer for capturing the obvious in such a vivid image.

The sort of thing the instigators of the Appleby’s office had in mind was the investigation of a company that went bust to make sure its directors had not kept trading when they knew it was a lost cause.

The office is organised, staffed and structured, right down to the original appointment of Appleby, to carry out this type of work. Giving it more powers and more work to do will not change this.

Those in the office work hard and do a good job, but asking them to be the lead investigators into what happened in Anglo Irish Bank and bring them to justice is like asking the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) to investigate a mass shooting at a hospital.

Such a hypothetical event might involve the breach of numerous hospital rules Hiqa is responsible for enforcing, such as not allowing firearms on the premises, but that is beside the point.

The issues at Anglo Irish Bank and elsewhere are very grave and lie squarely in the realm of a specialised financial crime investigation body. For a country which shows such a talent for white-collar crime, it’s amazing we don’t have one.

Six years ago in the Dáil Bertie Ahern ridiculed Paul Appleby's plea for the ODCE to be given the staff it needed to do even its limited job.

Now that the new government is approaching its first anniversary it is timely to ask what has really changed.

Specialised body to tackle financial crime a necessity

[FakeViking]

Six years ago in the Dáil Bertie Ahern ridiculed Paul Appleby's plea for the ODCE to be given the staff it needed to do even its limited job.

Appleby should have resigned that very day. It's straight out of the Ahern playbook: Delay & Pray. Appleby represents the worst aspect of the PS, a highly paid nobody.

[He3]

Some related threads -

2009 - Is the government assisting the Gardai with their enquiries?

2009 - Crippling the whitecollar crimebusters - how FF did it.

2010 - Corporate Enforcement office says we expect too much

[He3]

It's straight out of the Ahern playbook: Delay & Pray.

That playbook seems to be the only one around, even now.

McManus has a simple suggestion:

"As we have found out to our cost, a much more real threat to this State is its inability or unwillingness to tackle white-collar crime and the culture it has spawned over the last two or three decades. That has played no small part in the collapse of the banking system and the economy.

There is little that can be done about that apart from bringing any offenders to justice. The current system – in which Appleby’s office has been placed centre-stage – will make heavy weather of it.

Ultimately, the decision to prosecute will rest with the DPP’s office, which seems to attach no weight to the preventative effect of bringing cases even if they fail to secure prosecutions.

Where the cause of this reluctance lies is hard to judge from the outside. Presumably it has its root in the interpretation by the DPP of its role and duties.

Taking a good hard look at removing that roadbl0ck would be more useful than forcing Appleby to stay on for six months."

[H.R. Haldeman]

Asking the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to investigate something like Anglo is like asking the Health Information Quality Authority to take the lead role in investigating a mass shooting at a hospital. John McManus deserves a cheer for capturing the obvious in such a vivid image.

It really is a stunning image that brings immediate clarity.

[He3]

It really is a stunning image that brings immediate clarity.

And a stunned silence here

[firefly123]

And a stunned silence here

Many of our more "vocal" posters are stuck in a paradox. They agree with the statement but it came from a public servant. Logic bomb! Collapse on floor bleeding from ears.

[He3]

Many of our more "vocal" posters are stuck in a paradox. They agree with the statement but it came from a public servant. Logic bomb! Collapse on floor bleeding from ears.

McManus is a journalist.

[davidcameron]

The HIQA "mass shooting" comparison is ludicrous. If a Breivik-style psychopath wants to carry out a massacre in a hospital, nobody inside would be able to stop him, unless armed police happened to be there for a different reason, i.e. guarding the witness to a crime. In such a case, HIQA wouldn't even come into it, because HIQA only investigates the quality of health care.

[He3]

The HIQA "mass shooting" comparison is ludicrous. If a Breivik-style psychopath wants to carry out a massacre in a hospital, nobody inside would be able to stop him, unless armed police happened to be there for a different reason, i.e. guarding the witness to a crime. In such a case, HIQA wouldn't even come into it, because HIQA only investigates the quality of health care.

Did you read the quote at all?