No united Ireland till we get an NHS as well
MATT Cooper’s column (Irish Daily Mail, yesterday) had the headline: ‘The North is moving slowly towards a united Ireland... but what if the rest of the island said “No”?’
Whoa there, Matt, let us not get ahead of ourselves. There is one major stumbling block to the people of the North – nationalists and unionists alike – wanting to join us here in the South, whether we wanted them to or not.
The people in the North are entitled to medical treatment, free at the point of delivery. But down here you have to have €50-€60 in your hand before you go to the doctor.
Until we have universal health care here in the South, I for one can never see the people in the North wishing to join us until we do have that service, free of charge. It’s a no-brainer. JOHN FAIR, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
The taxman always wins
DR Bassam Naser, a GP in Sutton, Co. Dublin, was jailed for 16 months for failing to pay €100,000 in income tax.
A well-known businessman and some patients are calling for his release, all saying that he is a good and caring GP and that jail is no place for him. Dr Bassam may well be a very good GP who cares a lot about his patients, but that is no reason for failing to pay his tax.
Jail is the place for him and other tax dodgers. J. McCOURT, Dundalk, Co. Louth. ...DUBLIN businessman Michael Wright is the latest person to call for the release of a tax cheat GP Dr Bassam Naser who was caught by the revenue for filing incorrect tax returns for 2006 and 2007.
This doctor had opened a second account and lodged 1,686 cheques into this account (Mail, June 7) thereby dodging payment of €100,000 to the Revenue. It was not a mistake. It was a deliberate act to dodge tax.
Mr Wright and a lot of the GPs patients are surprised the doctor was jailed for 16 months. How people can condone this tax dodging and look for lesser penalties is unbelievable. The judge heard all the evidence and passed the sentence on Dr Naser.
Mr Wright says Dr Naser is not doing well in Mountjoy Prison. Dr Naser should have thought of this before he decided to open this second account and not pay any tax on it.
He had a €100,000 cheque in court to pay the tax so it was not because of need that he did not pay the tax; it was just plain greed.
If all self-employed who were caught dodging tax faced a higher chance of being jailed then the Revenue’s tax defaulters lists would be much reduced.
DENIS DENNEHY, Dublin. ...READING through this week’s ‘tax defaulters’ list, I was struck by the draconian law which sees interest and penalties with the total owed to the Revenue coming to double the original tax allegedly owed. This has the effect that people are hit more severely than the violent criminals the CAB goes after.
Check through the list, and find there is a distinct absence of corporations and multinationals who enjoy the sweetest of tax exemptions and good-buddy deals.
Perhaps it is time to acknowledge the good intentions of alleged ‘tax defaulters’, many of whom are motivated by providing services and employment as they struggle to stay afloat.
We are meant to view these citizens as criminals. Given the severe tax laws and assorted charges, I always believe the hard-working Irish of private business could be classed as victims also. ROBERT SULLIVAN,
Bantry, Co. Cork.
Forgotten fathers
ANOTHER Father’s Day coming up and time to remember all the fathers who have lost their children.
The father who is told he was only used to provide a home and family and is no longer needed.
The father who is phoned at work and told not to go home as he is no longer wanted. The father who comes out of hospital to be told his marriage is over and his bags are packed. The father who arrives home from work to find the house empty of furniture and family.
This is happening every day. Fathers are losing their children; some never see them again. For many men the loss of their homes and children affects their whole lives. To find themselves on the outside of their family is awful and it’s the same for their children.
So this Father’s Day, think of these men, too. LESLEY RICHARDS,
Address supplied.
Mind your language
I ENJOYED the letter from Shay Coogan (June 8) about poor use of English. The headline about people ‘cueing in there bear feat’ also deserves a round of applause.
Now, I wish to make a small submission on the matter.
There is a sports reporter on RTÉ Radio who offers odd pronunciations of some words, as in ‘the Kilkinny cintre forward firing a shot to the back of the nit’.
Surely the time has come for some of the heads in our national broadcaster to give some commentators and analysts a few words of advice with a view to improving the standard of language on the station.
LIAM WILSON, Wexford.