The Cedar Lounge Revolution

It is upon us again. No, not the return of the Dáil today after their overly generous Summer ‘break’, but rather the release of the latest Transparency International report on global corruption. Last year there was something of an outbreak of national wailing and gnashing of teeth over the news that we were ranked 17th, 17th I tell you, in the world… or as the CLR noted:

And a mixed message it is for us, too. The good news? Well since last year we’ve risen from 18th to 17th place. We’re at a rating of 7.5, up from 7.4 last year. Where does that place us? Ahead of us are Denmark (1), New Zealand (3), Singapore (4), Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Norway, Australia, Luxembourg, the UK, Hong Kong, Austria and Germany. Level pegging us is Japan and France comes in a little behind us on 7.3. After that it’s the USA on 7.2, Beligium Chile and so on and so forth, all the way down to Myanmar and Somalia both on 1.4. In total there are 180 countries assessed in the survey.

And moreover:

The bad news? Well, the media are making great play over the fact that our rating in 1995 was 8.57 and we were 11th. Very good. Except that that was in a field of approximately 41. The following year we slipped a bit to 8.45 (although still on 11) in a survey of 54 countries. By 2001 we were 18. Dreadful, except that our rating was 7.5 in a field of 91. In 2003 we were still on 18, but pehaps a tad more cheerily in a field of 133.

Well, this year, curiously the media attention is considerably lesser. Perhaps because:

Denmark defended its ranking as the world’s least corrupt nation, alongside Sweden and New Zealand. All scored 9.3…[and] Ireland was ranked in 16th place with a score of 7.7. Last year, Ireland achieved a score of 7.5 putting it in 17th place.

And the scoring process?

The index ranks 180 countries according to perceived levels of public sector corruption. The CPI scores countries on a zero to 10 scale, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels.

So, some improvement. Actually, considerable improvement. It would, of course, be indelicate to suggest that the change in the political situation just before the Summer assisted this, wouldn’t it? Yes it would.

Anyhow TI were grudgingly approving.

TI said the improvement in corruption rankings was important for a small open economy like Ireland’s since investor decisions are often made on the back of a country’s reputation for fair regulation and government transparency.

But, rather like a teacher perpetually irritated by the good, but not good enough, kid at the back of the class the Irish Times report is not satisfied, or even particularly happy.

However, Ireland still lags way behind in the index from direct competitors for jobs and investment such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Finland and Denmark.

Remember, Denmark is at number 1. That’s sixteen places we’d have to climb to reach it.

“The global financial crisis makes perceptions of corruption all the more significant for Ireland as countries’ markets increasingly rely on investor trust. A continued gap in trust is going to cost our economy – in the long term it’s going to cost us jobs,” said Justin Keogan, chair of TI’s Irish chapter.

But Justin, there’s been an improvement. We’re on the up. Still, note the following:

The global index of expert and investor surveys on corruption shows that while Ireland’s standing has improved marginally over the past year, its nearest neighbour Britain has suffered one of the biggest drops in the history of the influential benchmark. Ireland’s ranking experienced a similar fall six years ago as evidence emerged of secret payments to Charles Haughey and other politicians.

John Devitt Chief Executive of TI Ireland claimed the British Government’s decision to block an investigation into alleged billion dollar bribes to Saudi officials had badly damaged the UK’s reputation for fair play.

“Corruption and cover-ups are picked up by international investors like sharks smelling blood,” said Mr Devitt. “The dramatic fall in the UK’s score is a likely sign of investor concerns about alleged corruption in Britain’s aerospace industry, and lax controls on political funding,” he added.

Fair enough about the UK, and it’s timely that they are rapped publicly for the disgraceful issue of the Saudi bribes (evidence, were it needed that the UK’s indigenous military/industrial/political complex continues to thrive with the tacit, and sometimes not so tacit, support of the government of the day). But note the words about Ireland. It’s the use of the word ‘marginally’, though that is telling. I’d be the first to support attacks on corruption, but perhaps some acknowledgement that for once the graph is moving in the right direction would be helpful.

And others to be sent to the doghouse?

It said statistically significant declines were seen in 2008 in Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway as well as the UK.

Norway. Interesting. And as for Bulgaria, well, I’ll return to them later in the week.

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Very briefly, the report about Fine Gael withdrawing from the Dáil vote pairing deal is intriguing. They’re in high dudgeon because…

…the Government rejected its plans for a two-day debate on the economy.

By doing so they put some pressure on the Government. Granted there were a couple of hairy times for the Government over the past – what was it – sixteen or so months when their majority came perilously close to being wiped out due to inefficient whipping, but it’s, as the phrase has it, a sword that cuts both ways. I’m no expert on these matters, but I’d love to see how this is going to work out. They may well be fired up in late September, but I wonder how they’ll feel in a couple of weeks time – should it last that long. And more to the point, what will the response of the public be if Ministers are unable to attend official business. Easy for Fine Gael to wind up in a very bad light if this isn’t played properly. Seems to me to have more than a touch of geeing up the troops at the start of term…