Our system of public inquiries is so dysfunctional that it is hard not to imagine that it is deliberately so, especially as those being investigated are almost invariably public employees and, very often, their relationships with businesses. Why, after all, would this country’s politicians or bureaucrats establish an efficient system to expose if not wrongdoing then negligence bordering on the criminal? Beef tribunalThe culture was established 30 years ago next month, when the Beef Tribunal began deliberations on May 31, 1991. Grace inquiryThat ineffectiveness seems to be behind the snail’s-pace inquiry into the abuse of a woman named Grace. Any doubt about that assessment can be set aside by reference to the greatest exercise in smoke-and-mirrors tokenism of all — our half-cocked, hand-tied banking inquiry.

Source: Irish Examiner April 27, 2021 08:19 UTC