Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

In common with my Government and party colleagues, I have strongly welcomed the publication of the Mahon tribunal's final report. I wish to take this opportunity to outline the role my Department played in respect of the overall response paper being published today.

The Mahon tribunal's final report and its findings of endemic corruption of Irish political life call for a comprehensive and forceful response. This can be achieved through reform of the various systems for prevention of corruption in the Irish political system in the first instance. It can also be achieved by overhauling this country's administrative, regulatory, law enforcement and judicial systems. I am, therefore, committed to the delivery of the ambitious commitments relating to political reform which are outlined in the programme for Government. The unifying theme running through these initiatives relates to securing greater openness and transparency and enhanced accountability and thereby ensuring more effective public governance. As I have previously highlighted, these represent a comprehensive suite of significant measures that have the potential to bring about an important shift in the rules of the game for the political and administrative systems in this country.

My Department has responsibility for the implementation of a significant number of the recommendations contained in the Mahon tribunal's final report. These recommendations fall into the categories of conflicts of interest, lobbying, corruption and misuse of confidential information.

Policy proposals on lobbying regulation were published earlier this month and have been the subject of a recent successful public seminar involving key interests and experts. Lobbying is a positive force in our democracy. However, a comprehensive approach to the regulation of lobbying is required in order to shed greater light on the question of who engages in lobbying and for what purpose. We need to know more about how public policy and decision-making processes are shaped. Taking account of the issues raised in the consultation process, my Department is currently developing draft heads of a Bill in this area. When Government approval is obtained in respect of these, I intend to submit them to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform for its consideration. I aim to have this legislation enacted early next year.

The introduction of comprehensive whistleblower protection legislation is central to more effective management and early amelioration of risk, in both the public and private sectors. As Deputies will be aware, in well-run and risk-focused organisations, whistleblowing should be encouraged and promoted. The need for protection against reprisals is a safety net when the whistleblower, rather than the information he or she discloses, becomes the primary focus of the organisation's attention. Following their approval by the Government and with a view to informing the public debate on the matter I published the draft heads of the protected disclosures in the public interest Bill earlier this year. I have received, and am considering, a number of submissions from interested parties, including Transparency International, ICTU, IBEC, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and others. All have made submissions and offered observations and I anticipate that I will be in a position to introduce the Bill to the Dáil in the autumn session.

Beyond the registration of lobbyists and the introduction of whistleblower legislation, a large number of recommendations in the final report of the Mahon tribunal relate to conflicts of interest. The latter are characterised by the tribunal as the "root cause of corruption". Collectively, these recommendations point to the need for a fundamental review and extensive overhaul of the legislative framework relating to ethics. There is a consensus that the existing framework requires significant reform and modernisation. There are some very important policy issues to be grappled with in advancing this project but the basic objective must be to put in place a model that can play an appropriate role in embedding ethics as an integral part of the values, culture and behaviour of the Irish public service.

Given the watershed that is the Mahon tribunal report, I have decided to take this opportunity to engage in a full review of how the existing legislative framework for ethics can be reformed in order to develop a single, comprehensive and overarching framework that will be grounded on a clear and comprehensive set of principles. This considerable undertaking will cross all Departments and sectors and will compliment the work of my colleagues, the Ministers for Justice and Equality and the Environment, Community and Local Government, who will both be contributing to this debate. My Department will continue to work closely with officials from both Ministers' Departments. I remain committed to continuing to drive forward the Government's reform programme on behalf of, and in conjunction with, all of my colleagues in government, with a view to ensuring that ethical values are and will be seen to be fully addressed and reinforced in Irish public life.

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