Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The Mahon tribunal report shows that this is exactly what happens when vested interests and self-serving influencing and decision-making undermine and corrupt the system. The trust vested in all politicians at both national or local levels was betrayed by some politicians. As a result of both the corrupt acts of a few individuals and the extensive evidence uncovered and published in the Mahon report, the credibility of our political system has been severely undermined and shaken. That betrayal has been condemned, and rightly so, on all sides of the House. The response to it can probably be summed up in two words, namely, never again.

This is an issue that is too important to be reduced to party politics. It is issue of patriotism, pride and trust. It is also an issue that goes to the heart of our democracy and our responsibility to the people of this nation. That puts an onus on all of us in this House and across all levels of elected government to reassure the people that the next scandal will not be allowed to happen. With the publication of the tribunal's findings and multi-stranded recommendations, we have - at one and the same time - an urgent duty and an opportunity to rebuild public confidence in the system. That means acting swiftly and decisively to ensure a fully accountable and transparent planning system in which there will be no scope for corrupt practices to subvert the checks and balances which are either already in place or in the process of being put in place.

The whole-of-Government response published today summarises actions on each of the 64 recommendations of the Mahon tribunal and reveals that 29 recommendations have already been or are in the process of being implemented, either partly or in full; 14 recommendations will be implemented by means of additional initiatives; and 18 recommendations remain under consideration and will be considered as policy and legislative changes are progressed in these areas during the remainder of the year. Of the 64 recommendations, only three are not proposed to be implemented. It is clear from today's response paper that many of the tribunal's recommendations are already being actioned through ongoing legislative reforms and commitments in the programme for Government. I include in this regard the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 in respect of which the House has just completed its deliberations. From my policy perspective, I have expedited the introduction of political donation reforms through the latter legislation.

The publication of the Government's response earlier today is an important step but it is only the beginning. I am of the view that our concerted actions across a range of areas and cutting across a number of Government Departments and agencies demonstrate that we are serious and committed to strengthening transparency and accountability in our planning, ethics and governance codes. Having learned from this experience and taken due account of previous systemic failures, it is now our collective duty as Ministers, public representatives and as responsible citizens to ensure that these occurrences remain a harsh, costly and painful reminder and a spur to set things right and to put in place the safeguards to ensure that such corruption never happens again. We must set down standards and introduce robust regulations not just to prevent future wrongdoing but also to prove to the citizens of this nation that its future will be shaped honestly and honourably; demonstrate that we take the public's trust and our responsibilities very seriously and illustrate that we will strive to restore the trust that has been lost.

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