The 'Hulk' Hogan in his usual place.
'HULK' HOGAN BATS
WIDE AGAIN:
Government Ministers caught out praising
illegality :
As the Dáil resumed on Tuesday,
Environment Minister Phil 'Hulk' Hogan waded in to the controversy over the
letters from Clare County Council received by students applying for University
and College maintenance grants threatening to withdraw the grants unless
information was supplied proving that their parents had paid the so-called
"household charge" introduced by Hogan earlier this year as part of
the austerity programme of the Government's commitments to the EU/IMF bailout
which the State is engaged in currently.
The "Hulk's" bullying
attitude was apparent again as he endorsed the actions of Clare County Council
as "reasonable" when they were nothing less than a crude attempt at intimidation
of students and their parents in another failed attempt to extort money from
families already under financial pressure from the severe economic crisis.
Swift protest action by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), however, forced
the Clare County Council and others who were hinting at doing the same, to
back-off of one of the meanest and most despicable
attempts by the Government in trying to enforce the despised and unpopular
"household charge". USI's action also exposed the clear illegality of
this move which could have been easily made known to the Hulk by his officials
before he made his foot-in-mouth statement in Dáil Éireann. Another example of
Ministers in this Government showing absolute contempt for the people who
elected them and forgetting that they are not members of a sovereign parliament
like Westminster, but, subject to the sovereignty of the people under our republican
Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann.
That a government minister, sworn
to uphold the Constitution on taking office, would, in contemptuous ignorance,
declare an obvious illegality to be "reasonable" is grounds for
having such individual declared unfit for office. But, such is the low standard
of our current batch of politicians, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
The Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, former Leader of the Labour Party and
once a respected figure on the Left, joined the controversy in similar vein
agreeing with Hogan that the County Council actions were "reasonable",
again showing ignorance of the law in that his Department provides the funding
for the college grants and the local councils only carry out the administration
and have no function or authority to delay or vary the provisions already
stated in legislation.
Ruari Quinn,(Labour), Minister for Education.
Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda
Kenny was forced to admit to the Dáil yesterday that, as ascertained by USI and
their legal advisers, County Councils were acting illegally in threatening to
withdraw grants which were not funded by them but by the Department of
Education. Nevertheless, there was no apology from Kenny or his ministers for
the anxiety and stress caused to the students and their families by this crude
attempt at bullying extortion. The so-called "household charge" is
itself of dubious legality and will be challenged in the Courts. Aspects of its
administration are also illegal due to serious flaws in the supporting
legislation. The Government is on a loser in this and the sooner they realise
this the better. In particular, the Labour members of the government should
give themselves a revision course in the Constitution before they parrot the
stupidity and ignorance of the likes of 'Hulk' Hogan.
FearFeasaMacLéinn
Áth Cliath/Dublin
MeánFhomhair/September 20 2012
