What do our politicians not want us to know?

THERE are many people who would say that Michael Noonan has always failed to inspire, despite all his guff.

That number is surely increasing by the day as people across the country begin to realise that Fine Gael, and Michael Noonan and his ministerial colleagues in particular, have almost totally morphed into the Son of Fianna Fáil. It wasn’t even a gradual process — its seeds became evident within days of this new government being elected.

Each week brings us another manifestation of this government’s total inability to be true to the commitments that both parties made in the pre-election period and in the election campaign itself.

On Monday it was reported that the Department of Finance had been in possession, since the middle of last year, of the final report on the collapse of the Irish Nationwide Building Society prepared by Ernst & Young and solicitors McCann Fitzgerald.

Many of us will readily remember that, while in opposition, Mr Noonan, and indeed most of Fine Gael, called repeatedly for openness in dealing with the banking collapse. It was a sentiment shared by most people. Now he is sitting on this report, claiming it is subject to “legal privilege”.

Michael Noonan is reported to also have stated that, “in view of the sensitive nature of the reports and their potential, if made public, to prejudice any future actions that may arise; I do not propose to publish the reports referred to at this time”. It would appear to some of us that this is civil service speak meaning you and I will never see the report, or indeed any other report that may arise “from any future actions should they arise” with respect to the banking collapse.

There are those among us who wonder why those who are picking up the tab for the failures of government, regulation and banking, are being refused access to the reasons why our economy collapsed. Yet they continue to dip deep into our pockets and tax us ever more when we are already having difficulty keeping our heads above water.

We’ve heard of the golden circles that operate at the higher echelons of political, business and commercial life. We are now beginning to wonder if there are things in these reports that show an unholy alliance or connivance in the development of the policies of the last government and possibly this one that they wish to hide from the light of day.

Indeed there is one common denominator in all of this, and that is senior mandarins, the permanent government, who seem to have been spared the worst of the cuts. Politicians come and go but our political system requires that elected members of the Oireachtas make up the executive.

However, as we all know now, only too well, most of our politicians are not up to the job we pay them for. They may be well-meaning but that amounts to a proverbial hill of beans when compared with the guile and indeed the ability for self-survival of the Yes, Minister brigade.

Undoubtedly the advice to hold off publication comes from them or possibly from ministerial advisors. If that is so, the question must be, why? What do they not want us to know?

Up to now we have accepted everything they have thrown at us as they obfuscate and prevaricate each time there is a serious issue to be addressed.

The citizens of this country, are paying the piper. Our politicians are acting on our behalf — they do not have a mandate for their current actions.

If there is a problem with trials being prejudiced because possible jurors will have seen the report then let’s appoint special courts to deal with those who had hand, act and part in our economic collapse in what amounts to virtual economic treason. Surely our highly paid judges will not be prejudiced?