“The tone of the debate in recent months has been unfortunate. There has been overstatement on the part of the professions as to the implications of some of the Bill’s proposals….but there has also been overreaction to that overstatement… including references to cabals, and allegations of people trying to stay in the nineteenth century. A change of tone in the debate is required in the coming weeks and months when decisions will have to be made regarding the final content of the legislation. We need to lower the temperature of this tense debate….so that we come to the best possible outcome – not for any one interest group, but for the citizens we represent.

“As a practising lawyer and a member of the Bar, I have been disappointed by the slowness of reform and an unwillingness in the past on the part of the professions to embrace or promote change. This has led to a situation whereby people now feel they are victims of change, instead of themselves taking the opportunity, when it is there, to advance proposals for change to the way things are done.

“For example, there is a need to address the question of equity within the legal professions, and in particular the distribution of work at the Bar, to facilitate younger barristers coming into the profession – people who are willing and well able to work. That has not been done but it is an area that should have been addressed and still requires to be addressed. People have been slow to embrace that.

“The independence of the legal profession is critical in any democracy. It is actually a test of the strength of a democracy. All litigants – rich or poor – are entitled to be represented by absolutely fearless advocates, who are never threatened by any attempts to trample their independence. They must not have any concern about repercussions, either from the Government or elsewhere.

“This issue is also related to economic rights. Prospective foreign investors need to understand and appreciate that we have a fully independent legal profession that is beholden to no one, be it the Government or anyone else. It is therefore absolutely vital that that independence should be protected.

“It is not a formalistic matter. I have heard people saying that there is nothing in the Bill that undermines the independence of an individual practitioner. It is a bigger issue than that, however. One must consider carefully the proposed new Authority, for example. The method of appointing the Authority is essential to ensuring the independence of the profession and it is not an incidental question. Nor should the raising of this issue be taken as a criticism of the Minister or the Government. It has to do with the manner in which people perceive that Authority. They need to be sure that it is entirely at arm’s length from the Government, and that it is independent not just in the operation of its functions – which one would assume – but in every way. There should be no sense on the part of any Authority members that they are beholden to the Government, even where is no such intention on the part of the Government.

“The Minister is open to amendments on the means of appointment to the Authority. It is necessary to amend the provision. There are many ideas on how this can be achieved. Other professions, including the medical profession, have a good statutory regime for the appointment of the independent regulator in their cases. These are the parallels we should be looking at”.

Committee Chairman Alex White, TD: “The purpose of our visit tomorrow is to establish direct working relationships with parliamentary colleagues in the Bundestag, and to discuss areas of mutual interest, including the current treaty negotiations on the proposed fiscal compact. At a time of great uncertainty and concern about the future, it is essential that a line of contact and exchange should open up between elected parliamentarians across the European Union. We are looking forward to positive, frank and open discussion, and will also take the opportunity to reflect on the controversy about Irish budget details being revealed in the Bundestag, before they came before the Dáil last December. I hope this is only the beginning of a much-needed process of discussion, debate and mutual understanding.”

The official delegation will be led by Deputy White and includes Liam Twomey, TD; Michael McGrath, TD; Pearse Doherty, TD; and Richard Boyd-Barrett, TD. Four other Committee Members will accompany the delegation at their own expense.

The Delegation’s Programme includes:

Meeting with Berlin based Irish business community representatives

Working breakfast with members of the German-Irish Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Bundestag

Meeting with Petra Merkel MdB, Chair of the Budgetary Committee of the Bundestag and selected Committee Members

Working lunch with Budgetary Committee

Meeting with Chair, Gunther Krichbaum MdB, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Bundestag and selected Committee Members

Briefing and exchange of views with the Organisation of German Taxpayers

Briefing and exchange of views with the German Institute for Economic Research

Meeting with Prof. Helmut Anheier, Dean of the Hertie School of Governance 

The new jobs will bring total employment in Sysnet in Ireland to 111 by 2014 and global employment to 135 by the same date.  

Established in 1989, Sysnet is a leading provider of information security and assurance services worldwide. With this new research and development programme, Sysnet will expand its software development operation in Dublin and invest in the development of the existing compliance management system to meet the changing needs of existing and future clients.  The company has continued to grow its international business over the past six years, and the new development will position Sysnet to build on its existing business and expand into new export markets.

Commenting on the announcement, Deputy White said:

“If we are to get out of this crisis and create the levels of employment we need, we must create an indigenous engine of economic growth. Indigenous companies provide proportionately three times more benefit to the Irish economy than multinational companies, and while FDI will remain a crucial part of our economic strategy, the Government are determined to support high growth indigenous companies in every way possible.

Sysnet is a dynamic Irish tech company operating at the cutting edge of its sector, engaging in R&D and innovating, and today’s announcement that it is investing and creating further jobs is great news. In the forthcoming Action Plan for Jobs the Government will be implementing further measures to support the indigenous companies of the future so that we can accelerate their expansion to create the jobs we so badly need”.

Committee Chairman, Deputy White said: “Last week around 150,000 pensioners received letters from Revenue about their tax compliance, with 115,000 being told they will have to pay extra tax in 2012.

We are pleased that Revenue chairwoman Josephine Feehily and officials from the Department of Social Protection agreed to attend the committee meeting to discuss the handling of this issue, particularly the communication of the tax situation for some older people.

No-one will argue with the necessity for tax compliance on the part of all citizens. However, many pensioners were unsure of where they stood on their tax liability, and needed reassurance.

At the meeting, which sought to bring some clarity to these matters, Deputy White asked the officials involved how this situation had been so inadequately managed and questioned Revenue on its communications strategy. He said, “lessons would have to be learned for the future.”

Acknowledging Chairwoman Feehily’s public apology for the distress caused to the thousands of pensioners throughout the country, Deputy White also commended the efforts of the public servants who had worked quickly, and through last weekend, to assist members of the public with their immediate queries.

Commenting on the outcome Deputy White said:

“The return, albeit limited, of this route, re-establishes a traditional route of access to town via Rathmines, which is so important to the Residents of Whitechurch.

I commend the patience and professionalism of the Residents who played a role in this Action group. Working with the Group on this issue, as I have since last August, has been a real demonstration of how effective we can be when we pull our resources together”

Deputy White also commended the work of the Dublin Bus Network Direct management group who has worked with the National Transport Authority to bring about this satisfactory result. Highlighting their flexibility and willingness to engage local concerns, Deputy White added:

“We all understand the tremendous budgetary pressures public services are placed under in these stringent economic times. However the Dublin Bus team has shown that with some creativity a better solution can be developed.”

Dublin Bus expect that the new service will commence Monday 19th December and will run as a Monday – Friday with an inbound service scheduled at 08.05 and outbound at 15.00, with a further outbound peak time bus at 16.53.

You can hear the show by clicking here.

Commenting on this progressive development Deputy White said “The Government is committed to ensuring, where possible, that world class education and research facilities can help future generations contribute to the knowledge economy. The redevelopment of University College Dublin is an exciting development and will benefit students studying on a modern, vibrant and sustainable campus and foster a greater contribution to Ireland’s future.

“UCD’s Belfield Campus is one of the finest university facilities in Europe and a central driver of the greater Dublin South economy. Funding will be used to develop six buildings including the second phase of UCD’s Science Centre, construction of a new School of Law and refurbishment and construction of student accommodation.”

The UCD Campus Development Plan 2010–2015 will make the campus more compact, concentrating related activities and separating academic and leisure functions. The overall redevelopment aims to consolidate and enhance this position of pre-eminence by providing future generations with a sustainable, healthy, and living campus.

Development of the campus follows the Government’s efforts to increase investment in research and higher education, and will strengthen UCD’s role in an increasingly competitive academic environment. Deputy White commented that ‘the ability to locate both industry and academia on the same campus will help increase links between the university and key Irish companies’.

The new campus development will combine refurbishment of existing award winning buildings and provision of new facilities.

A president who will do us proud

Congratulations to my colleague Michael D, what a magnificent result. Over a million votes! A special thanks to the people of Dublin South who turned out in such volumes to support the Michael D candidacy, making Dublin South the fourth highest constituency supporting Michael D Higgins with just over 51% of the vote. I believe the Michael D Presidency can and will be a turning point in our country’s fortunes – an opportunity to renew and transform our Republic.

Michael D Higgins

Five years ago, Liberties Press published Causes for Concern: Irish politics, culture and society, a sometimes eclectic mix of Michael D.s journalism, academic writing and speeches over the years. The book is a testament to the range and breadth of Michael D.’s accomplishments as a politician, a public intellectual and, above all, as a great humanist. Unusually amongst public figures, Michael D. is at home in a range of communication modes from the rhetorical flourishes of the university lecturer, to the incisive observations of the detached columnist to the creative exegesis of the poet. As a political representative, opposition spokesman and Minister he could be relied upon to bring an intellectual acuity and vision to every brief in hand. Reading through the contributions in the book which extend over several decades of public life a few key themes emerge: respect for education and love of learning, the importance of promoting culture and the public sphere and the need to show solidarity with the oppressed.

In developing his world view, Michael D. has drawn on a rich seam of intellectual thinking but he returns repeatedly to the question of authenticity, and the goal of living an authentic life. Michael D.’s analysis of the ills of Irish society- clientelism, consumerism, materialism and technocratic determinism- are trenchant and prescient. He was a critic of the direction of socio-economic change in Ireland when it was neither popular nor profitable to be so. The kind of values that he has been espousing for decades- solidarity, community, democracy, justice, freedom and equality- are exactly the values to which we have now turned as we seek to rebuild our economy and society in the wake of the Celtic Tiger.

As Declan Kiberd so eloquently points out in the introduction to Michael D.’s book “In an age when the great ideological battles between capital and labour have been pronounced to be over, Higgins has kept ideas at the centre of political life; in a time of technocracy, he offers vision; and while others run for office on the basis of competence, he insists on an ethical perspective.”

Michael D. has spent a lifetime putting his considerable intellectual gifts to work in the service of the Irish people. He has used his voice courageously to speak out for those in Irish society and elsewhere who have been oppressed. He will indeed be a President of whom we can all be immensely proud.

Mary Corcoran and Alex White

The real issue is what actions should be taken.

Whatever directions the policy shifts take are likely to be traumatic. For example, if there is a move towards closer integration on fiscal policy throughout the Eurozone, it is difficult to see how this can be achieved in any real sense without some Treaty change. And because there has been little or no effort to close the so-called democratic deficit throughout the Union, European voters understandably are going to be hugely suspicious of, and resistant to changes that they feel may be inimical to their immediate interests – especially at a time of economic hardship and recession.

I spoke this weekend at a conference organised by Feachtas, the People’s Movement and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance – specifically on the topic “The struggle to re-gain Irish sovereignty”. These are some of the points I made in my contribution.

It’s undoubtedly true that the EU/ECB/IMF deal has undermined our independence of action on fundamental economic decision-making. The spectacle of quarterly, monthly and even weekly supervision of our financial affairs by the Troika has definitely shaken our independence and our sovereignty.

We have to get out of this bind as quickly as we can. But we can’t do this by simply repudiating the bail-out deal and walking away. We have to re-negotiate as best we can, and seek to reduce and ameliorate the enormous debt burden that we face, while at the same time honouring the terms of this solemn agreement made by the State. We must resist the urgings of some to go further than what the agreement actually requires, for example in the area of labour market reforms.

Most importantly of all, we should start to use this period to have a proper debate – finally – about what kind of economic and social model we want to pursue in this country. The impetus for this kind of debate must come from within ourselves. It will involve asking whether we really want to maintain top-class public services – whether in education, health or public infrastructure. And if we do (as I believe we should) we will have to abandon the pretence that we can have such services without a realistic level of taxation. We can eliminate waste and introduce efficiencies. These are essential tasks. But when we have done this, we will still have to pay for public services and we have to face up to this in a more honest way.

On the question of “re-gaining” our sovereignty, I agree that this is a worthy and essential objective. But we need to think about what sovereignty means in our modern world. Global capital has long since abandoned any respect – or even recognition – of national boundaries or sovereignties. Insofar as sovereignty is relevant nowadays surely it’s the sovereignty of States as against rampant, unregulated capital markets; rather than the sovereignty of individual States as against each other, or even as against the European Union?

The question now is more whether States (and the democracies they are supposed to embody) can or will assert their sovereignty in the face of the markets, rather than assert their sovereignty vis-à-vis each other or vis-à-vis supranational organisations such as the EU.

Even Chancellor Merkel recognised this when she met the Pope last week in Berlin and commented:

“We spoke about the financial markets and the fact that politicians should have the power to make policy for the people and not be driven by the markets, and that this is a very, very big task in today’s times of globalization…”

Is it not a measure of where the world is that a major leader should find it necessary to state that politicians “should” have the power to make policy in these circumstances?

Mrs Merkel is right. It is indeed a very, very big task. But when will we begin to confront this. What will be the politics? If there is to be this re-assertion of democratic control when and where will it begin? This is also very much a challenge for the left and for social democratic parties, who in many ways retreated from the pursuit of these long-standing and noble objectives thirty years ago. Instead, they threw in their lot with the new conventional wisdom of light regulation, low taxes, and a “private good, public bad” attitude to public services.

So, I think that if we concentrate on national sovereignty in the narrow sense, we will pass over the opportunity to participate in, and shape a real debate about what kind of world we want to build from the ashes of this enormous crisis.

A real debate about how we fund our State. How we regulate activities from planning to banking to sewage treatment in rural Ireland. A real debate about our model of democracy.

This is where we need to start.