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INDEPENDENT TD NOEL Grealish has been accused of engaging in “disgraceful racism” after raising questions in the Dáil about money being sent out of Ireland.
Grealish told the house that he wanted to bring the Taoiseach’s attention to “the amount of money that is being transferred out of Ireland in personal remittances”.
“Over the past 8 years alone over €10 billion has left this country by way of personal transfers, this is a staggering amount of money,” he said.
The top five countries where money was transferred to over the past eight years include €843 million to Lithuania, €1 billion to France and the top three countries; €1.54 billion to Poland, €2.7 billion to the United Kingdom and €3.54 billion was sent to Nigeria.
“Taoiseach, transfers to other EU countries I can understand, for example money being transferred to the United Kingdom, our nearest neighbour, with over 100,000 British people living in Ireland and over 10,000 Irish students in the United Kingdom.”
The Galway West TD said the source of his figures was the World Bank.
“But Taoiseach, €3.4 billion transferred to one non-EU country is astronomical,” he added.
Has Revenue or the Department of Finance any way of tracking this money or where it is coming from? Can I ask you Taoiseach are there mechanisms in place to ensure that the money that leaves this country in personal remittances has been fully accounted for with the Irish Revenue and tax system and is not the proceeds of crime or fraud?
In response, the Taoiseach said that he doesn’t doubt Grealish’s figures but added: “I’m not sure where you’re going with this”.
“Everyone in this house will know from the stories their parents told them or their grandparents told them that for many decades or centuries Irish people went all over the world and sent back their remittances to Ireland,” Varadkar said.
I know you mention a distinction between those going to EU countries and non-EU countries, but just walk a few metres across Merrion Square to Holle Street hospital, you’ll see a hospital that is full of midwives from India and nurses from the Philippines and doctors from Egypt and Pakistan and I don’t know where. And they work hard and pay their taxes and out of their post-tax income they send money back to their families who probably paid for their education.
Responding to the Taoiseach, Grealish said: “I know a lot of it, an awful lot of it is genuine money but I want to ensure a commitment from your government that there are proper controls in place”.
The comment prompted howls of disapproval in the Dail with Ruth Coppinger TD standing up to say it was an example of “disgraceful racism”.
“Sit down, you’re a disgrace,” she added.
Grealish was previously criticised claiming that refugees the government had agreed to settle in Ireland were “economic migrants” from Africa who would come to Ireland to “sponge off the system”.
Varadkar and Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan had both on Grealish to withdraw the remarks.
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Great news story, a lovely read for a Friday :-)
Fair play to them.
who would thumbs down that comment, wankers!
Fair play lads, I wish you much success.
Thats the sort of innovation Ireland needs.
And they have to leave Ireland, wish they could of stayed in Ireland
Congrats to @patrickc and brother John Collison @collision on latest $18m funding!
This isn’t Twitter you know
Delighted to see these two brothers getting on so well.I am sure they will go far. Fair dews to them.
Fair dues
I stand corrected
They deserve it. Their main product has removed one of the last barriers to market for anyone setting up a new business or wanting to operate a small business. Brillant.
Spot on Peter.
Couldn’t be happier about this. Great people, great product, great investment.
Really amazing entrepreneurial spirit but wish it could have been further developed in Ireland rather than California :)
Why can’t we make it attractive for guys like that to start up/ keep their business in Ireland . What are the politicians doing??
I dont think it can be entirely blamed on politicians..I dont think Ireland has the same startup environment that california has…and I think its a lot to do with our attitude towards entrepreneurs…and lack of VC funding perhaps..I think to imitate an environment like california, Ireland needs a spark, and for lots of people to take risks, both on their own ideas and on other peolpes…and also to think big, these guys obviously have done that but id say they are one of very few in Ireland. Maybe the draw of having like minded people around is what took them to the US?
First time I’ve ever seen a story on the Journal without a single “thumbs down” good work lads.
of course just as I send my comment…………ah well, still a great story
Great news hope it goes well for the young men,best of luck,it’s what Ireland needs at these times
Chris money doesn’t buy genius it’s fairly obvious these boys are something special really proud of them all do I don’t know them
Congratulations to them ! It’s a shame they couldn’t be incorporated in Ireland and employ Irish people, but the truth of the matter is that our universities are not producing graduates of the calibre required to start a tech company and guide it to success .
A corollary to that is the total funding vacuum that exists for tech startups in Ireland , whether it is venture or angel investment. Enterprise Ireland lack the domain knowledge required – a software startup costs peanuts to fund initially ; most of the cost goes on rent and food but EI and their ilk want to give you way more money than you need in exchange for way more equity than you want to give away, on top of ridiculous conditions like needing to hire a minimum number of people and spend a minimum amount which you will then be reimbursed for.
We will never have a so called smart economy if this doesn’t change and we will continue to produce mickey mouse companies that turn a tiny profit and hire a tiny amount of staff.
I don’t agree 100% with the calibre of graduates in Ireland. i think that the problem is more so the numbers of people doing IT/science subjects. There are some pretty smart people coming out of some pretty good courses at the moment but nowhere near enough.
Very well said Eric. The government should make it easier for the existing it contract development community to setup business and go it alone. I have 12 years experience lots of good ideas but I can’t take s year off ti try something without
Free office rent
A grant of about 45 k a year
And free access to broad band and hardware
Give me that enda and in 5 years I would employ at least 5 if not mire people
The thumbs down on the site is getting a bit ridiculous.
@ Chris Gardner – Your very much mistaken these guys went to a public school in Limerick, if their parents wanted elite education for them they could have sent them to Glenstal not far away. The only downfall with this type of talent in Ireland is that we don’t know how to nurture them past the R&D stage. These guys are in the mould of Gates & Zuckerberg,just a shame we couldn’t keep them but the v best of luck to them.
These Brothers while they deserve their hard work it must be pointed out that they came from an enormously priveleged family with basically unlimited resources. They were destined to do well getting every and all help along the way. Not the story of the vast majority of irish young men. As I said I am thrilled they are doing well but I and millions like me never had these priveleges growing or resources. Its a pity all Irish school goers do not get the same equalities and indeed come to school facing enormous disadvantages, We won’t be reading about them anytime soon.
Well done lads.
There should be a http://www.coderdojo.com in every town/village in the country! Time to ditch fable studies and get programming languages into schools!
OMG lads yis are a legend, well done, I’m as proud of you both as if I were your mother! Wonderful…
They’re set up for life then! Well done to them!
Congratulations to you both
The very highest levels of protection must be provided for intellectual property such as this for the most obvious of reasons. I’m certain that the naysayers and petty critics who believe that it’s acceptable practice to thieve from owners of such valuable property will slink to the sidelines while these young lads bask in well deserved glory.
Fantastic achievement lads…well done!
Your welcome Palo Alto, California.
“You’re welcome” dummy
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