Publishing the names of business people who are named as having held Ansbacher accounts may be the only way in which public life can be cleansed, the Archbishop of Dublin said yesterday.
Dr Desmond Connell was speaking to RTE news at the publication in Dublin yesterday of the annual report of Crosscare, the social agency of the Dublin Archdiocese.
"There are two things that worry me in particular," he said. "First, a business career is an excellent career for young people, and there are many of them going into business careers, and I would be a little worried that they would feel that what they are taking on is something tainted.
"They might even be themselves tempted to corruption."
Secondly, he said, he was concerned about the effect on the public generally. While most people were unlikely to be tempted to indulge in large-scale tax evasion, they might be tempted to regard tax evasion on a smaller scale as "very insignificant".
"Each and every one of us must have integrity in his or her dealing with money," he said.
The publication of every name could be unfair to particular individuals and it needed careful consideration, he cautioned, but "on the whole it's right that it should be done".
In introducing the Crosscare report, he said that the almost £25 million the Government spent on purchasing Farmleigh House this year could have provided every Traveller in Dublin with basic accommodation.
He said this State purchase and the building of "an exclusive residential estate on the south side of the city with house prices fetching in excess of £1 million" were signs of growing wealth and prosperity.
Citing the ESRI publication, Counted In, which found that there were almost 3,000 people homeless across Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, he said: "This juxtaposition should act as a reminder to us that there is a need and an urgency to find a balanced solution" to homelessness and the housing crisis.
"Crosscare believes the forthcoming Budget represents an ideal opportunity for the Government to build further on its commitment to tackling poverty," he said. Dr Connell also spoke of the unprecedented social pressures on young people with many turning to drug misuse as a means of coping with stress. Although Crosscare was founded in 1941, he said, its work was as relevant today as it was over 50 years ago.
"In fact it would not be an overstatement to say that in some ways it is even more crucial today as society has become increasingly materialistic and individualistic."
Crosscare's activities include involvement with carers and older people, people with drug problems, emigrants, Travellers, the homeless and those experiencing poverty. With an annual budget of £2.5 million, it has 70 full-time employees as well as 200 volunteers. In the coming year it plans a new night service to provide an outreach to homeless men in Dublin and also to develop a complete church policy on Travellers in Ireland.
