Not so long ago, the chief financial officer of a major national organisation asked us to believe that substantial funds under his (nominal) control were disbursed in a manner about which he had no knowledge. Moreover, his lack of knowledge was not an accident: he consciously yielded control of the disbursements, while putting his name to the written authorities for them. In short, he signed blank cheques.
The funds were not his own, but the organisation's. To me, this made it worse than if the money had been his own. Oh, and he is wont to call himself an "accountant".
We now learn that, at about the same time, a small number of senior executives in another organisation entrusted management of some of *their own money* to professional managers. These (then) very busy men now tell us that, having bought the dog, as it were, they didn't do the barking as well. They left the managers to manage the money and were not too curious about the uses to which it was put.
The Taoiseach says that he doesn't understand this supposedly casual attitude, and finds the story somewhat incredible.
Perhaps he should speak to the man who signed the blank cheques.
Oh, wait ...