Mick revelation was not earth-Shattering. Why bother?
Maybe it is the Minister’s love for all things Dr Who, but he revels in the politics of distraction.
Did he whip back in time, in his Tardis, to get the information he used to ambush Wallace live on Prime Time, namely that the Wexford TD and ‘anti-penalty points let-off’ campaigner had been let off penalty points, for using a mobile phone, by a roadside guard last year?
No, Shatter clearly believed the guards regarding the matter, which is unusual, as he normally dismisses everything they have to say about their jobs, when it does not suit him to listen.
Tax-dodger Deputy Wallace looked as bewildered as ever when Shatter made his revelation, and said he was unable to remember whether the incident had happened or not.
Though pressed on the point, Wallace did not seem to care that the Justice Minister had unearthed this information, and used it against him on TV.
But there is something troubling, even mildly sinister, about Shatter’s casual use of the information.
One can only imagine the self-righteous indignation from Shatter, in opposition, if a Fianna Fáil Justice Minister had deployed the same heavy-handed tactics against an opponent.
It is Shatter’s own version of Wikileaks.
For him, the guards — and, by the way he conducted himself on Prime Time, it sounded like canteen hearsay he was retelling — suddenly speak nothing but the truth.
Most odd, considering Shatter has been attacking them all year for exaggeration, and scare-mongering, over declining police numbers and the highly controversial station-closure programme he has forced through.
Same with Wikileaks — the professional Left spend decades denouncing everything the CIA says as part of the ‘big lie machine,’ but, then, as soon as a leaked CIA cable supports one of their arguments, or conspiracy theories, suddenly the agency’s viewpoint cannot be questioned.
Though Wallace should have been shamed into quitting the Dáil when it was revealed he had defrauded the taxpayer via his former construction company (he claimed he only did it to keep things afloat — a sorry excuse undermined by the fact he doubled the salary he paid himself, and his son, to €290,000 a year), it is unfair to call him a hypocrite on penalty points.
Yes, he is a hypocrite in many other areas.
Wallace rightly attacked cuts to special-needs schooling, but without the self-awareness to think that, maybe, if rich people paid their taxes, instead of giving themselves massive pay rises, there might just be a bit more money for education.
However, there is a difference in a guard waiving points at the roadside, due to discretion, and wiping them once they have been processed through the system.
The latter is the one Wallace has been campaigning against, a campaign not helped by the fact his buddy, and fellow unfunny Dáil cartoon character, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, was also up in arms about the practice — but, conveniently, forgot to mention he had enjoyed the privilege of having points quashed, once they were on the system.
Indeed, the only memorable thing to emerge from the recent Fianna Fáil ard fheis was a drive-by comment, from a guest speaker, that Flanagan was a “dope-addled Muppet” — how Gonzo and Animal must have cringed at being compared to such a figure.
So, given the, shall we say, lack of credibility possessed by his opponents, why would Shatter feel the need to go in so hard?
Because he can, and because he enjoys wielding the power of his office, and because it neatly fits in with his attempts to distract the public from more important issues.
Namely, allegations of corruption in the gardaí over penalty-point let-offs.
Not surprisingly, the gardaí investigating the gardaí, over whether gardaí were corrupt, decided they were not — but something very disturbing has been going on for years in this area.
After the penalty-points issue was raised by a whistle-blower, the report concluded: “On the basis of material examined, this examination has found no evidence to suggest any act of criminality, corruption, deception or falsification as alleged by the anonymous author.
“However, this examination has referred terminations conducted by three officers for investigation by assistant commissioner, internal affairs, as it has been established that some terminations undertaken by these officers may not have been conducted strictly within administrative policy and procedure, thereby giving rise to possible breaches of discipline.”
Well, that’s alright then, just a bit of indiscipline — except it is not alright, as accusations of whitewashes are swirling around again.
Given that gardaí wiped out 37,384 points in a three-and-a-half-year period, there is clearly the need for an independent probe into how, and why, this happened.
The affair has left a tawdry air over the profession, and one that is now affecting the Justice Minister.
It was hardly a coincidence that ‘anti-penalty point let-off’ campaigner and TD, Clare Daly, had her arrest for suspected drink-driving leaked to the media within hours.
Ms Daly was later found to be well under the limit, but not before a certain Alan Shatter expressed concern at the “unexpected number” of guards that had accessed the police PULSE computer system in relation to the arrest.
“It is absolutely clear that certain steps need to be taken to ensure the strict application of data-protection rules, with regard to the operation, usage, and access to the PULSE system,” a disapproving Justice Minister informed the Dáil.
It’s a shame that Shatter did not use the same restraint himself, when spreading canteen culture gossip about TDs who dare disagree with him.
