Siobhan Creaton: Jailing bankers now even more of a dream
IRELAND'S answer to Eliot Ness took everyone by surprise yesterday with his decision to retire.
But after a day of wrangling, he was persuaded to stay on for another six months and to stick with his investigation into the disaster that was Anglo Irish Bank.
News that Paul Appleby (57), the Director for Corporate Enforcement, would be among the thousands of civil servants heading to the exits at the end of the month certainly shocked the Government.
When Richard Bruton told the Cabinet yesterday that Mr Appleby wanted to take a €225,000 lump sum and a €73,000 annual pension, it went down badly.
The fact that the man who was leading the most important investigation in the history of the State was preparing to walk away within a few weeks could only deal a blow to the inquiry, they believed. Surely someone could talk him down?
On the face of it, there was no denying his right to opt to take the early-retirement package after a 39-year career as a civil servant.
The Director of Corporate Enforcement says he only decided to retire in recent weeks after talking to his wife and family. He told Mr Bruton of his decision last Friday.
Mr Appleby offered his help if it was needed in the future and assured Mr Bruton that a number of his colleagues could ably hold the fort until a replacement was found.
But that was all to change.
Since the end of 2008 Mr Appleby and a team of about 20 staff, including 11 gardai, have been investigating some of the catastrophic events that took place at the bank that broke Ireland.
It has been a slow inquiry that has come in for sharp criticism from High Court Judge Peter Kelly as it sought more time to complete its work.
Last year, the judge said the collapse of Anglo "has had profound and serious consequence for the economic wellbeing of this State and its citizens". Yet the question of who is responsible for this is still being examined.
Last week, Mr Appleby's office told the court it had since made significant progress and had completed two strands of its investigation. The court also heard that the DPP may soon decide to bring charges.
This suggests that a significant amount of work has now been completed -- but no one is suggesting that its job is almost done.
WHEN we heard that Mr Appleby was getting ready to quit, it did not reassure us that Ireland's bankers were about to be called to account. Would he be surrendering his badge if there were some high-profile convictions in sight?
Mr Appleby's job -- policing the laws that apply to corporate Ireland -- is undoubtedly a demanding one and he has passionately pursued it. Colleagues talk about his total commitment to his task and his staff were also taken by surprise when he said he would be going.
Yesterday, he said that being Ireland's first Director of Corporate Enforcement, a position he was reappointed to twice, had been the "highlight" of his career.
During his 10-year tenure, he pointed to some of the successes his office had enjoyed in chasing down white-collar criminals.
Apart from the Anglo investigation, it looked into the widescale overcharging uncovered at National Irish Bank and the covert Ansbacher Deposits set up to allow wealthy people to evade tax in the 1980s. It also looked into the High Court inspector's reports dealing with insider dealing at Fyffes and DCC.
Its work resulted in over 100 criminal cases and more than 100 people were disqualified as company directors.
Sadly, though, it can't claim any serious convictions. Indeed, Judge Kelly referred to the apparent failure to thoroughly and efficiently investigate white-collar crime in Ireland. This, he said, did nothing to instil confidence in the criminal-justice system.
Perhaps Mr Appleby has grown weary of the battle? We can only hope that when he does wave goodbye next August we might see some bankers handcuffed and maybe heading for jail. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Irish Independent
