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CORRUPTION IS OFTEN, though not universally, defined to be the abuse of public power for private gain.
Surveys from countries that are widely perceived to be corrupt tell us that in some countries, people regularly pay bribes to access basic services and firms must grease palms in order to file taxes and obtain permits.
For example, a recent survey of households in sub-Saharan Africa reveals that 8.3% of people have had to pay a bribe to avoid problems with the police, a staggering statistic given that 70% of people say that they have had no contact with the police.
In Yemen, 64% of firms report having been asked for a bribe in the past year according to World Bank data.
The same survey, which sadly does not include Ireland, reveals that bribe paying is not unheard of in some EU countries, with 9% of Bulgarian firms and 4% of Croatian firms admitting to having been asked for a bribe.
Ask yourselves this: have you ever heard of anyone having to pay a bribe for things like this in Ireland? It surely happens, as even in Sweden 2% of firms confess to having been solicited for bribes, but it is not common, let alone a normal part of doing business in Ireland.
However, when asked as part of a recent Eurobarometer survey, 68% of Irish people expressed the belief that corruption is widespread in our country.
The same survey reveals that only 5% of people say they have actually witnessed acts of corruption or been a victim of corruption in the year leading up to the survey. Only 7% of Irish people claim to know someone who has taken a bribe.
So why do so many Irish people think that corruption is widespread in our country?
Part of the explanation could do with the nature of corruption in Ireland. Different countries have different mixes of grand and petty corruption.
It is hard to quantify grand corruption but the fact is that what evidence we have speaks against Ireland being a particularly corrupt country.
Expert assessments collated by Transparency International rank Ireland as the 19th-least corrupt country (out of 180).
This puts us between the US and Japan and several spots ahead of France.
The World Bank puts us in the 91st percentile in terms of control of corruption.
Given these international rankings, could it be the case that Irish people do not understand what corruption is?
It is not unusual to hear people cry “corruption” during public debates and discourse over real and scandalous policy failures such as the housing, homelessness, and health crises.
Without excusing these tragic and costly failings, it is important to correctly identify the cause of a problem.
Incompetence, indifference, ideology, and inefficiency are not synonyms for corruption.
Diagnosing a problem correctly is vital for effective treatment. One would take a very different approach to fix the health system if the source of the inefficiency was, say, embezzlement or bribery, as opposed to interest groups operating within the scope of the law.
Likewise, while corruption has been shown to be associated with poverty and inequality, there are likely better strategies for dealing with these problems in Ireland than interventions designed to root out and punish corrupt public servants.
Trust is an essential economic lubricant as it serves to reduce transaction costs and facilitate cooperation.
If I trust you, I am more likely to sell you goods on credit or employ you to do a job that is hard for me to monitor.
The perception of corruption has been found to decrease the trust that people have in each other and therefore an unwarranted perception that Ireland is a corrupt country could put a drag on economic activity.
Trust in politics and politicians is also important in terms of a country’s stability and capacity to improve itself and these forms of trust are understandably undermined by the perception that public officials are acting illegally, or at least immorally, in their own self-interest.
Misuse of the term corruption holds further risks.
The first is that by having false expectations about the extent of corruption, we can undermine efforts to fight what corruption we do face in Ireland.
The recent coverage of the Garda’s anti-corruption unit suggests that the “discrepancy” between the Eurobarometer poll and the volume of reports received could be used to scale back anti-corruption policing.
The threat of being caught and punished is a powerful deterrent to corruption. Another danger is that a perception of corruption can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If corruption is seen as the norm, people will not have to work as hard to justify asking for or offering bribes.
Ireland should be particularly wary of such changes in policing and culture.
By international standards, Ireland is blissfully, and profitably, free from the day-to-day burdens that corruption imposes on individuals and firms.
This is important as Ireland’s economic model relies on foreign direct investment and there is plentiful and strong evidence that suggests that corruption repels multinationals.
We should be proud and mindful of our reputation.
Dr. Robert Gillanders is an economist and corruption expert from DCU’s Business School
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The majority of the country know this. These policies are for the benefit of the privileged few that FFG govern for.
A mandate is needed for these policies being pursued. Supply and Confidence is no mandate, by a skewing of democracy to benefit the few.
@Dave Doyle: The majority of people have already saved and borrowed and provided housing for themselves and their families and efforts to “benefit the few” who have not yet done this are just what’s needed.
@Tom Molloy: This has been explained before. The majority of homeowners bought when it was easier to do so. Rents were a smaller proportion of a salary (due to rent caps actually) and house prices were lower compared to salaries.
@SC: “The majority of homeowners bought when it was easier to do so”
Being indepted to something for 25+ years is anything but easy. Everything is relative to the cost of living.
I know, let’s set up another quango, give it an annual budget do it can attend dinners and conferences. Staff it with the buddies/wives/children of ministers, model it on the quango that was set up two years ago but only help 6 people buy a house, bring in some Yes man government consultant who can produce stats and figures as to why this one is guaranteed to work.
Bingo, welcome to the thought process of almost every minister in dealing with a crisis
FFG are destroying a nation.. They’ll kiss and make up to ensure another 2 years at the trough whilst homeless grows….
We need election which FFG are preventing..
@Willy Mc Caul: God forbid a death of a homeless person with the onset of winter.. The discontent at FFG now is bad. A spark as said could lead to a violence. They can stay at trough, but can’t keep ignoring the people. Demonstrations are growing and inevitably will get bigger with the inaction of these elitist..
@Willy Mc Caul: well the FFG party won’t care if people die. The next time it happens there needs to be proper trouble.
@Willy Mc Caul: do you honestly believe our government goes into power with the intention of “destroying a national” just read and reflect on your comment!
The market has come back again after a recession and like any market prices are down to supply & demand, homelessness is a huge issue usually it’s a result of drugs, alcohol, mental health etc
The government has a 1 billion euro tender out to build affordable homes this issue won’t be resolved until there is more supply .
Massive social unrest is absolutely essential.
@mursim: bit excessive…
@Attilio: No its not ,it should have happened before now.
The tax relief allowed to landlords is on the interest on the debt which is undeniably an ordinary business expense. For a landlord who bought in 2006-2007, rents and property prices both fell off a cliff and have only recently returned to their original level. A Dublin apartment property bought for 325K in 2006 is now worth 290K. Where is the massive increase in property values there? The simple reality is that many landlords were selling up because it was unaffordable for them to stay in business. Several independent studies commissioned by the Government attested to this. This loss of rental supply was driving up rent prices.
The budget is only insane if you think that FG are actually interested in housing poor and low income families. They aren’t and they’re quite happy to let them go homeless. This was a budget for the landlords and bosses because that’s who FG represent. That’s who they are.
Victor Duggan is a socialist who spins for Labour his opinion, and that’s what this article is, biased spin and not in any way an economic evaluation.
That been said it is hard to believe an ‘economist’ can say unequivocally that interest payments should not be deductible as an expense is incredulous. In simple terms it is merely a taxation of one person to the benefit of another. This article offers no thought for the vast majority of landlords, some 70%, who are NOT professional landlords, and in many cases are subsidising, through their earned income, the tax take on their ‘investment’.
52% of profit on rental income will be taken by the government and rightly so if its profitable additional earned income. Meanwhile vulture funds were allowed enter the market as charities and pay 1 or 2% effective tax if any and the so called ‘professional’ landlord will be a corporation and at best pays 12.5%.
The vast majority of the accidental landlords are your friends and neighbours who were forced into letting there properties by bailed out banks to simply stave off repossession. This measure simply allows them offset some of the cost of providing a property for rent. There are horror stories on both sides on the one hand greedy price gouging landlords on the other renters’ entrenched for two or more years without paying a penny all the while protected by a bureaucratic nightmare that is the RTB and poorly styled legislation intended to offer security of tenure.
There are always two sides with rights and wrongs on both but this measure is designed to merely increase supply and quality of the rental stock it enriches nobody it merely realigns the distribution. It is also worth noting the deduction of interest against rents received will in all probability increase the amount of rent taxable at 52% so will end up back in the state coffers to subsidise the huge expenditure on social housing, itself a redistribution of your tax take from you to another.
In economics there is a principle called the opportunity cost (google) in short every penny that goes into providing social housing leaves an equal penny short in health, disability, national debt etc. Society will decide whether this is fair and just but society also needs to understand everyone is entitled to be heard.
@Emmet Doyle:
A nice balanced assessment – well done!
I disagree with the premise that the housing stock will be greatly reduced by acquisition for the purposes of social housing, given the number of houses (~20,000) being built by private contractors. I know folks on here think the word “private” is sinful, but this element of housing supply is also crucial.
Any truth to what Karl Dieter was saying last night about the number of houses which aren’t fully occupied? His numbers suggested that there are 10k beds, in social housing, not being used.
@MK76: saw that as well. 1 person living in a 5 bed council house in dlr. They should be moved to a smaller house and a family moved in but sure you can going using common sense like that
@talkingsense: *cant
Ireland unhoused shall never be at peace.
Tory goverment thats what FG are and FF are not much better..
Good article,
Why has every one forgotten about NAMA? The national building contractor?
Why are they not part of the discussion any more considering they are active property speculators and building contractors??
Dont forget the councils who are also actively involved in thw sale of land for profit, Land that belongs to the state , IE….
You and I.
This is as big a scandal as the promissory note. Its criminal.
The heading of this article should be,addressed to the liberal party’s in Ireland.
These are populist measures aimed at Fine Gaels 28%. Short term measures to please that cohort coming into an election. Long term these measures will make rents rise and the country completely uncompetitive as wages rise to supplement that.
The title of this article perfectly sums up the voting patterns of those who habitually vote FFG
The writer’s deep dive hasn’t quite reached the roots of Ire H crisis.
The no. one issue is obviously dev land availability, where D far > S in or near all centres of growing pop.
Gov appears content to have S fed in like poison; a little at a time!
NAMA, with its massive land banks, seem in no mad rush to go to mkt, presumably not wishing to flog off too much family silver given legacy debt to be recovered from pre crash era.
CGT at 33% doesn’t cut the mustard for the land owner in cashing in those chips. So why sell now if land values are only going one way?
Credit to Gov for attempting to incentivize residential landlords back into mkt/or even stay, with those measures. A no brainer with H supply being the problem.
Something innovative is required to speed up Land availability.
I have hardly read the article with so KBC advertising plastered about . Budget 2019 supported by KBC – LOL
That’s also the definition of practice.
The left parties including the shinners should write to all the vulture funds and the corporate investors and the Banks that prey on the needy like the homeless that they will reverse all the bad laws that are made in the moment for their benefit. Let’s see how many continue with their wanton greed. Roll on the elections and the revolution. Fight on comrades.
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