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Dail Éireann · 2024-05-02

Part of Other Questions

Ethics in Public Office

SF Rose Conway-Walsh · Mayo

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Q76 SF Rose Conway-Walsh to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform

76. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide an update on planned reforms to strengthen standards in public office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19844/24]

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Summary of this debate

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The Minister's Department completed a review of the ethics legislation and a report on this was submitted to the Government by his predecessor in the Department, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, in December 2022. There seemed to be an eagerness on the part of the Government to progress the proposed legislation at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, even when there were a number of scandals and resignations and these were reported in the media.

Most important, SIPO needs true independence and the power to initiate its own investigations without the current requirements that apply in many instances for a complaint to first be referred to it before an investigations officer can be appointed.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 579 words across 6 contributions by 2 speakers.

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sipo 3
investigations 3
legislation 6
aim 4
shortall 2
liabilities 2
ethics 2
mairéad 2
initiate 2
registerable 1
farrell 2
sanction 2

The full debate

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SF Rose Conway-Walsh this contribution

Go raibh maith agat. This question was previously raised by Deputy Shortall. The Minister's Department completed a review of the ethics legislation and a report on this was submitted to the Government by his predecessor in the Department, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, in December 2022. The Government approved the publication of the review report and agreed to the preparation of a general scheme for legislative reform. This was informed by the review's outcome. When will the general scheme of this proposed legislation be progressed? I heard the answer the Minister gave to the similar question from Deputy Shortall previously. Does he have anything to add to it?

FG Paschal Donohoe

I emphasise that work on the heads of the Bill is significantly advanced. I want to be in a position to bring proposals to the Government very shortly.

SF Rose Conway-Walsh

As the Minister stated, the review makes some very important recommendations. There seemed to be an eagerness on the part of the Government to progress the proposed legislation at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, even when there were a number of scandals and resignations and these were reported in the media. Since then, though, it seems it has been quietly shelved. It should be an offence for Oireachtas Members to fail to disclose their required interests. Currently, Members are merely required to correct the record, with no potential sanction for failing in their duties. This is not a sufficient deterrent in respect of the issue of revealing political conflicts of interest.

We should also look at widening the definition of "registerable interest" to include liabilities above a certain threshold, certainly excluding mortgages on family homes. This is one of the key recommendations of the Mahon tribunal. The issue of guaranteed loans that were not repaid was identified as a key element of concern. Most important, SIPO needs true independence and the power to initiate its own investigations without the current requirements that apply in many instances for a complaint to first be referred to it before an investigations officer can be appointed.

FG Paschal Donohoe

I aim to deal with both those matters. I aim to deal with the issue of liabilities and how they are registered and I also aim to bring forward proposals regarding strengthening the powers of SIPO to allow it to initiate its own investigations.

SF Rose Conway-Walsh

I hope this will allow SIPO to be more proactive in certain instances and enable it to act where it feels suspected breaches of the ethics framework have taken place. For instance, if it were felt that something had not been declared, then the agency would be able to investigate and sanction members if necessary. My colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, brought forward legislation to achieve this aim and the Government should act, as it has indicated it would, to implement the legislation before the next election.

FG Paschal Donohoe

I am very much aware of the Bill brought forward by Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Buckley last year. It contained several different provisions relating to this matter. The legislation proposed had seven sections in total and many dealt with powers regarding the Standards in Public Office Commission. As I said, I will be bringing forward an approach that will deal with some of the issues the Sinn Féin Bill referred to, while also addressing a number of other matters. I am aiming to be in a position to be able to bring these proposals to the Government soon because I do appreciate the importance of this issue.

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