Irish Left Review | Phil Hogan, the Embodiment of the Crony Capitalist Links Between Business and Politics in Ireland

Irish Left Review | Phil Hogan, the Embodiment of the Crony Capitalist Links Between Business and Politics in Ireland,Criticism of the government’s nomination of Phil Hogan as Ireland’s EU Commissioner has tended to focus on his lobbying, in 2012, to prevent a Traveller family accessing social housing.  On this basis, independent MEP Nessa Childers has reasonably described the nomination as a “step backwards for equality”. The other main strand of criticism concerns his signing off on bloated consultancy payments for the establishment of Irish Water, an issue that Sinn Fein in particular is highlighting.  Again, the criticism is legitimate and important, as is the fact that he spent the summer appointing former Fine Gael and Labour councillors to state boards and that he quashed inquiries into planning irregularities (including in his own fiefdom of Carlow) when he took office as Minister for the Environment. - See more at: http://www.irishleftreview.org/2014/09/10/phil-hogan-embodiment-crony-capitalist-links-business-politics-ireland?