Sir, – Your report on Chief Justice Susan Denham’s comments (Home News, July 9th) on business ethics provokes some thoughts. The strategy of regulation, and regulators, has failed the citizens of Ireland miserably. At best, it merely creates a culture of compliance, where the philosophy is one of “so long as I obey the regulations, I do not have to be ethical”. So, if something is not specifically proscribed, it is permitted. The Roman historian Tacitus observed that in a state where corruption abounds, the laws must be very numerous.
Is it possible to envisage a day when our politicians have the wit and moral courage to pass just one simple law that makes it an offence for company directors to behave unethically in their business deliberations? A definition of “ethical” is not very difficult. If one is charged with unethical behaviour, a jury would decide if the behaviour was unethical or not. I believe that the existence of such a law would give pause for thought to many company directors in their dealings. It certainly would for me! – Yours, etc,
DAVID MacDONALD
Mount Merrion Avenue
Blackrock, Co Dublin.