I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make certain amendments to the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 and the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995; and to provide for related matters.
I am delighted to be introducing the Standards in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2023 with my colleague Deputy Buckley. Cuireann sé an-áthas orm an Bille seo a chur chun cinn le mo chomhghleacaí an Teachta Buckley. This is another significant piece of legislation we have worked on together in respect of the issue of public standards and ethics. It seeks to make important amendments to the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. It seeks to make these amendments on the basis that the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, has asked for them. SIPO says they are required for it to better carry out its function. This amending legislation also helps to give scope to some major recommendations of the Mahon tribunal. It is also imperative in light of recent events. Yesterday we saw that the annual register of Members' interests was published, and we have seen the corrections that have had to be made.
I will explain the three major provisions of the Bill. First, it will make it an offence for Oireachtas Members willfully and recklessly to fail to disclose their required interests. Currently, Members are merely required to correct the record with no potential sanction for failings in their duties. This is not a sufficient deterrent to revealing the issue of potential conflicts of interest. It would also widen the definition of registrable interests to include liabilities above a certain threshold. That would be excluding the mortgage on the family home. This is one of the key recommendations of the Mahon tribunal where the issue of guaranteed loans that were not repaid was identified as an area of particular concern.
Second, the Bill would introduce a new section into SIPO's governing legislation titled "Suspected contraventions". This would allow SIPO to initiate its own investigations without the current requirement that applies in many instances for a complaint first to be referred to it before an investigations officer can be appointed.
This would allow SIPO to be more proactive in certain instances, allowing it to act where it feels suspected breaches of the ethics framework have taken place. If, for instance, it felt something was not declared, it could investigate it and sanction members if necessary.
Third, it would require SIPO's annual report to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Under the current arrangement, it must be presented to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform before it is laid before the Houses. This is something SIPO has requested on multiple occasions.
Of course, much more work needs to be done in this area, but this Bill, if enacted, would be a significant step in the right direction, in an area in which we have been going backwards for some time. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Bill to the House.