Jailing of corrupt lobbyist Dunlop welcome – De Burca
Others must also be punished for their roles in planning corruption
The Green Party has welcomed the sentencing today of former Government Press Secretary Frank Dunlop to 18 months in prison on corruption charges.
MEP candidate for Dublin Deirdre de Burca, who herself has a long history of campaigning against local authority corruption said: “The jailing of Frank Dunlop is a welcome development. His sentence is fully justified but must not represent the end of this process. Others who contributed to this situation similarly have to account for their role in planning corruption.
“I hope that this will be the first of a series of imprisonments for the widespread corruption that poisoned the Irish political system in the 1980s and 90s.
“Dunlop’s bribes and the complicity of the predominately Fianna Fail and Fine Gael politicians that took his payoffs and recklessly approved the planning of unsuitable developments have created problems in our societies that many people still live with today.
“There are victims of Dunlop’s crimes. These are the people who live in communities with inadequate schools, healthcare and public transport facilities.
“The Green Party is determined to clean up politics and end corruption in the planning system.
“My colleague John Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, has introduced for the first time spending limits in local elections. He has established an independent electoral commission charged with examining the financing the political system and which will assume the functions of the Standards in Public Office Commission relating to election spending. Work on this is at an advanced stage.
“He has taken steps to make national planning guidelines binding on local authorities and has already intervened in Mayo, Monaghan and Dungarvan to prevent ongoing reckless planning decisions by Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail councillors.
“Minister Gormley will imminently present details of a new planning bill, which will mark a sea change in planning in this country.
“But even with this new legislation and new rules on spending there is no room for complacency. I want to see ethics legislation improved to ensure that politicians account fully for the money they raise and spend,” she concluded.
