I was listening to George Hook this morning (Saturday Sit-in,04/08/18) and thinking that he sort of fits into the ‘disgruntled corner’ in that at least he tries to ask the questions that we want asked. The problem is that he is easily outmanoeuvred by the two woman regulars in the opening section of the program and Michael Graham at the end. In fact, he spends so much time winding up to a question that he never manages to land a punch and you could say that everyone in the middle section manages to avoid any damage as well. Still, amongst the ranks of presenters he, at least, has some concept of what the man and woman in the street would like answered.
My attention was caught by the interview with Finian McGrath who had made representations to the Minister of Justice and more recently the Taoiseach, on behalf of Dr. Bassam Naser who had been jailed for not paying tax. His position seems to be that he has taken off his Minister of State hat and is acting as an ordinary TD on a constituency matter. I am not sure how he can switch roles and still retain Ministerial access to Charlie and Leo but that is something that the coalition has to work out. In summary, he accepts that Naser was guilty of the offence and should have been punished. His argument is that the sentence of sixteen months imprisonment was too severe and that he should be released on humanitarian grounds and the sentence be commuted to some sort of community service. He further stated that Naser was ‘very remorseful’ and prepared to make restitution. (The Irish Times, 25/07/18) It seems that 200 of Finian’s constituents support his call for a review but this seems to contrast with the Trial Judges view of the good Doctor when he said, ‘his offenses were serious and that Naser had “failed abysmally” and was “morally reprehensible’.” (The Irish Times, 25/07/18)
At this point we all appear to have accepted that this wasn’t a misunderstanding between Naser and his accountant and we are left with the question of the severity of the sentence. A couple of things did come out of the interview, one was that Naser is serving his sentence in an Open Prison and the other is that with good behaviour up to a third of the sentence will be commuted. Finian made a valid point that there are others who have committed more serious crimes who have had community service sentences and there is an issue of sentencing consistency between judges. I would argue that, if this was the case, that the more serious criminal should also be incarcerated, all other things being equal. The issue that incarceration is expensive and doesn’t reform criminals is a different debate and applies to a large number of miscreants who might also claim special representation on this basis.
The question that George put was that since the banking crisis the public have sought a much more serious view of ‘white collar’ crime but as soon as it is applied there are all sorts of calls for special treatment. This is not a victimless crime, and the remorse shown and the appeal on the basis of family hardship is the same as any criminal who has been caught. In other words, Naser didn’t think of the consequences when he was committing the crime but we are supposed to take them into consideration now that he is behind bars. (Are they behind bars in an Open Prison?)
I am sure these considerations were put to the Judge at the sentencing hearing and I assume that there are no legal grounds for appeal and am curious as to why so much publicity for this case. I would think that Leo and Charlie could foresee the public reaction to any interference in a tax case and have learnt to dodge the more obvious pitfalls. Political considerations aside it is always problematic when a Government Minister challenges the Courts and I don’t see the necessity to do so in this case.
references : Saturday Sit-in, George Hook, 04/08/18, Newstalk The Irish Times, Fiach Kelly, 25/07/18, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/minister-defends-lobbying-for-release-of-doctor-jailed-for-not-paying-tax-1.3575442