Scandals show Ireland is den of thieves

WHEN you take the hype out of the responses to the NIB report it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Irish banking sector has been the spawning ground for an ethos in this country that regards tax evasion and contempt for the law as totally acceptable behaviour.

Recent banking scandals and the extensive nature of the DIRT scandal also bear out this very point.

Implicit also in what has evolved in terms of banking practice and tax evasion in this once renowned island of saints and scholars is that the country has turned into a den of thieves.