Embassies’ fiasco - Carelessness and excess

A Department of Foreign Affairs audit has uncovered out-of-control excess, expenditure and maladministration in renovation projects at Irish embassies.

While no one expects this county’s representatives to work in an environment that does not reflect well on Ireland, some of the failings revealed are spectacular and utterly unacceptable, especially in a country still borrowing around €250m a week to pay the housekeeping bills.

As in so many official reports, a lack of responsibility is a common theme. It is hard to think that this county can be rebuilt unless accountability becomes a reality with very significant consequences for public sector managers who preside over fiascoes like these. This may not be corruption in the Don Corleone sense, but it certainly corrupts public affairs, life, and integrity.