LETTER:No room for ‘cute hoors' of the past

SIR – Following the screening of the RTÉ Investigates programme on Standards in Public Office, I am shocked by the revelations with respect to some councillors and deeply concerned at the damage being done to the body politic and in particular to the hundreds of hard working city and county councillors who give of their free time to serve their communities for little or no real compensation.  

Many full-time councillors have salaries which are below the minimum wage and provide no sick pay and no pensions. Every councillor I know will want a full criminal investigation into the issues raised by the programme. There is no room in Irish society, which has been rocked by the sharp practices of the past, for those in public life who would seek to profit through any form of corruption.  

I asked at the  Order of Business in the Seanad for the Taoiseach to call in the DPP and request a full examination of the evidence produced by the programme in order to determine if there has been criminal activity. If there has been, the relevant course of action should follow. 

There is no room for the cute hoors of the past in a modern Ireland. As a result of the programme, people’s reputations are on the line and those named and unnamed deserve nothing less than the right to defend themselves.  Those found guilty of any corruption must face the full rigour of the law. 

Sen Gerard Craughwell,                                                                                                                                           Seanad Éireann,

Dublin 2.