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I wonder what Mick Wallace will say to the Dail today?
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I wonder what Mick Wallace will say to the Dail today?
As far as I can tell, he is an elected representative who has admitted to cheating on his taxes (in a huge way). He has agreed a settlement with Revenue which he admits he is extremely unlikely to pay. Surely he should have resigned by now? Why is it that Irish politicians never resign with some kind of honour? If he had been a UK politician he would have been long gone by now.
And I don't buy his argument about how he was trying to save jobs. If so, why did he double his own salary (and that of his son) at the time from €140,000 to €280,000. That's a strange way to save jobs. If you stopped paying yourself €280,000 a year you could probably save 7 to 9 jobs in your company.
Anyway, like I say, I wonder what Mick Wallace will say to the Dail today? Maybe he will resign after all.
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-- skennedy
14/06/12 at 10:57
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 From :
machu
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Posted : 14/06/12 at 17:28 |
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| So how does Wallaces case compare to the case of Paul Begley who got 6 years even though he was apparently in the process of actually paying back his vat?
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From :
skennedy
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 09:59 |
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No resignation – what a surprise!
What a lucky nation are we to be blessed by so many gritty politicians who just aren’t quitters.
Mick Wallace says he is answerable mainly to the people of Wexford; if so, the least he can do is call a by-election and let them have their say.
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From :
tricky
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 13:26 |
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| there's a huge difference between Thomas McFeely, a man who built sub standard shite that's a deathtrapand was a former member of the IRA and Mick Wallace, a man who built good quality developments from the ground (literally) up and had a genuine love for trying to do the unique and the admirable. Maybe I'm a sucker cause I like wine, football & food, but having eaten in the restaurants and admired the commitment to Wexford Youths as well as having seen some of the work in the developments take place I can't feel too harsh on a guy who tried his best but fucked up.
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From :
skennedy
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 14:10 |
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Ah well, if he serves good food and likes football, let's just turn a blind eye to the fact that he is an elected representative who broke the law.
Why should politicians have to worry about a silly little thing like the law?
No wonder this fucking country is the way it is!
Tricky, you have been here for a long time - best part of a decade - and I've always thought you've a good head on your shoulders, but one of us is way off on this.
If Mick Wallace was a member of FF you'd be screaming for his blood.
At the very least, he should offer the people of Wexford a by-election.
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From :
tricky
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 15:15 |
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SK - you know that we're often in agreement on most topics but I suppose I've just a level of genuine sympathy for someone who's world collapse around him in a business context.
It is important to know he didn't break the law WHILE he was a politician.
I suppose I just have seen people do stupid things try and solve demands from the revenue before and understand why. Here was the choice he was facing. Declare the full amount as received and go out of business because he can't sell any of the stuff that he has, or say he hasn't received it yet and HOPE that the cataclysm isn't as bad as everyone thought and he will be able to sell and catch up.
Again, don't get me wrong, what he did was stupid, what he did was borne out of desperation however I think there is a huge difference between that and corruption where someone takes payment for an abuse of their power OR (on the 'crime' side of the equation) someone driving the wrong way down a duel carriageway while drunk.
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From :
cyberbuli
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 15:15 |
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The trouble is that people tend to elect local people they admire. He may not have as much admiration in Wexford now but he would probably still win a bye-election if he stepped down and ran again.
Business people do tend to treat vat charged to customers as cashflow rather than money owed to the government and the higher the VAT rate the more tempting it is. But he should have been honest about it. Mind you, he was not a TD then but should have known it would come out eventually.
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From :
skennedy
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 16:18 |
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Tricky
He didn’t break the law WHILE he was a politician. True. But he didn’t tell the electorate during his campaign that his company had cheated on VAT in 2008 and 2009. The electorate didn’t have the full picture when they were voting for him. They elected him thinking he was a new type of politician, i.e., an honest straight-talking man. A man of real principle. They didn’t know at the time that he was fiddling his VAT.
“Here was the choice he was facing. Declare the full amount as received and go out of business because he can't sell any of the stuff that he has, or say he hasn't received it yet and HOPE that the cataclysm isn't as bad as everyone thought and he will be able to sell and catch up.”
True. That is a terrible situation to be in. And I would have a lot more sympathy for him regarding this, if he hadn’t doubled his salary (and that of his son) while cheating on his VAT.
Cyberbuli
I think you are right. Mick Wallace would still probably win a by-election in Wexford. I think that sometimes people don’t like to feel they made a mistake with their vote the first time round, so they vote the same way again… just to prove they didn’t make a mistake! A crazy theory, I know, but how else would you explain people voting FF in the last election?
I live near the Italian Quarter and see Mick Wallace from time to time. He seems like a decent skin. What really disappoints me here is that he has turned out to be just like every other politician who clings to power. If he had any honour he would call a by-election and let the people have their say. I can’t stand the way Irish politicians disrespect the electorate. It sort of makes me angry. That's all.
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From :
cyberbuli
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 16:50 |
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| I think he said he using half of his TD's salary to pay back the VAT and some journalist worked out that would take about 78 years to pay the full amount!
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From :
cyberbuli
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 16:51 |
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| Maybe he could make a little more on the side as Robert Plant's stunt double!
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From :
number10
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 18:04 |
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| Dammit, for a while there, I thought we were going to see a few insults thrown!
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From :
skennedy
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 18:48 |
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"Number10, your mother cooks socks in Hell."
Any use? It's the best I got at the moment.
Right. Work over. Cold beer waiting. You all be good now.
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From :
tricky
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 22:35 |
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"True. That is a terrible situation to be in. And I would have a lot more sympathy for him regarding this, if he hadn’t doubled his salary (and that of his son) while cheating on his VAT."
That bit does look bad, the only thing I'll say is that auditors get to change how money going in and out to directors gets treated - it isn't always black and white like it would be if people were in the PAYE system.
I'm not saying that's what happened, just noting that it can.
Anyway, I'm not saying he didn't do wrong, just that what he did isn't like what people are making out, and to be honest, the collection of teachers in the Dáil who've never had to deal with the realities of trying to keep people in jobs have NO idea what that's like.
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From :
tornaxx
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Posted : 15/06/12 at 23:25 |
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BOO-URNS!!
I'm happy enough that 'work' takes the tax that I owe.
(Did he pay the Household tax?}
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From :
machu
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Posted : 16/06/12 at 01:42 |
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| Does anybody even remember Paul Begley? The guy who claimed to be importing melons or something when in fact he was importing garlic which has a vat rate of something like 232% Owed 1.6 million in unpaid vat. He got 6 yrs. Whats so special about Mick Wallace, other than he seems a good oul skin?
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From :
machu
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Posted : 16/06/12 at 02:06 |
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| And Begley had been paying off his debt at 33,000 a month for the previous two yrs or so and at the time of his conviction had his debt down to 700,000. So one guy goes to prison and the other gets elected a TD with an average wage of 140,000 a yr. Fuck that shit.
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From :
tornaxx
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Posted : 16/06/12 at 12:16 |
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Are you Paul Begley?
(Sorry)
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From :
machu
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Posted : 16/06/12 at 15:17 |
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| Fuck it. Begely I never heard of until his case was in the news. Wallace I remember from about 20 odd yrs back when he was working around the Dame St area. He used to come into a coffee shop I worked in then. I had no idea who he was either and the reason I recall him at all was because of the hair. He looked like he didnt know whether he should be carrying a shovel or a giutar. The point is that one guy gets sent to prison and the other gets elected to the dail.
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From :
ttemme
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Posted : 18/06/12 at 13:27 |
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| life is full of contr'dictions. just as well that it is too or i think i'd be in the slammer long ago.
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From :
tricky
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Posted : 19/06/12 at 17:16 |
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I don't agree with Begley getting 6 years. However there is a difference between systematically defrauding something on an ongoing every day basis (calling garlic apples so he didn't have to pay the import duty on it) and a once off transaction.
You could argue what Begley was doing was the same as smuggling cigarettes to avoid duty.
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From :
skennedy
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Posted : 20/06/12 at 10:50 |
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Mick Wallace fiddled his VAT for 2008 and 2009 - probably would have done the same for 2010.
He only came clean about it the day before the audit.
I thought I was annoyed about this Mick Wallace situation and then I had a look at the Times' letter page the other day (Friday, I think). Not a single person wrote in to support him.
Someone mentioned that 100 years ago Mick Wallace would have been sent to a debtor''s prison, but in 2012 he gets to stand up in our parliament and make a speech about it. Better still, we get taxed to the hilt, so that he can have a huge salary while he does it. Oh, and 30,000 in expenses.
It's a farce.
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