Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was about to set out the specifics of how the reform of governance is being achieved. The extension of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction and powers through the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, which was debated extensively in this House and came into effect last October, resulted in the most significant expansion in the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman in the 30 years since the original legislation was put in place. As for the provision of a detailed legislative framework for parliamentary inquiries, which again was debated at length in this House, the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act was enacted in July and commenced on 25 September. This legislation establishes a comprehensive statutory framework for the Oireachtas to conduct inquiries within the current constitutional framework. In respect of the regulation of lobbying, the general scheme of the regulation of lobbying Bill 2013 has been submitted for pre-legislative scrutiny to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, which I understand is due to report back to me shortly. Drafting of the Bill has commenced and the views of the aforementioned committee will feed into this drafting process. It is anticipated that the Bill will be published later this year and enacted before the middle of 2014. As Members will be aware, extensive reform is under way of the freedom of information, FOI, legislation which provides for Ireland's FOI regime to be restored to the top tier of legal frameworks internationally for facilitating access to official information. The Bill substantially restores the legislation to its pre-2003 state and further extends FOI to almost all public bodies, as well as consolidating and modernising it to improve the functioning of the Act and to improve the structure of the legislative framework. The Bill has passed Second Stage in the Dáil and is scheduled for Committee Stage next week. In tandem with the drafting of the Freedom of Information Bill, work is well advanced in developing a code of practice to support the implementation of FOI. As for the introduction of legislation protecting whistleblowers, the Protected Disclosures Bill 2013, which was published in July 2013, has passed Committee Stage in the Seanad. The Bill, which proposes to introduce protections for workers in all sectors who are penalised by their employers for having reported wrongdoing in the workplace, meets the highest international standards and will represent a significant addition to Ireland's anti-corruption framework. Again, it is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted by year-end or early next year. An overhaul of the ethics legislation is being furthered, which is aimed at supporting and promoting ethical conduct, creating an environment in which ethical and conflict of interests are managed effectively and corrupt and unethical conduct are severely discouraged. Finally, much work is being done on the strengthening of Civil Service accountability, on which I will report to the Houses in due course.

My Department also is leading on the open government partnership, OGP. While many Members will not have heard of this partnership, I recommend that they investigate it. This new partnership serves to complement the existing objectives of the Government and provides an important international complement to national reform efforts.

The intention is that Ireland will become a full member of the Open Government Partnership, OGP, by April 2014 and membership of the OGP will reaffirm Ireland's commitment to governmental transparency.

The Government embraced reform from the very beginning, thereby demonstrating a strong commitment to facilitate more open, transparent, responsible and responsive public governance. These are just some of the areas on which it is working to restore faith in the political and administrative branches of the State, while restoring the finances to good health at the same time.

The reforms being undertaken in this legislation fit firmly within these two aims of fiscal efficiency and democratic reform. The so-called "party leader's allowance" has been around since 1938, when it was introduced to provide funding to Opposition parties in the interests of the democratic process. Over time and through successive Governments of all party colours, the allowance has evolved to become a significant source of funding and support for parties in this Parliament, as well as those Members of the Oireachtas who were appointed or elected as Independents, in an effort to ensure they are afforded the best opportunity to properly carry out their duties and serve the people. However, political funding cannot be exempted from the fiscal retrenchment through which the country is going. With this in mind, this Bill will reduce the rates of the allowance paid to both parliamentary leaders of parties and to Independent Members by a further 10%. This is the first time in 75 years, that is, since the introduction of the original Act, that this allowance has been reduced. As every other allowance has been reduced, it was appropriate to address this one as well. In a full year, this reduction will result in a saving of approximately €840,000. As I already have stated, the scope of the allowance payable under the existing legislation has grown over time. What was once an allowance purely for the leaders of Opposition parties, to spend as they saw fit, is now an extensive support provided to parliamentary parties, as well as to Independent Deputies and Senators, for use exclusively in their parliamentary activities and research. To reflect the evolution of the allowance and following a suggestion by some of the Independent Members of this House in the consultation process during the formulation of the Bill, this legislation renames the allowance as the "parliamentary activities allowance" to better reflect its true purpose and intent. Incidentally, I thank all Members, of this House in particular, who made substantial submissions to me. As stated, the name, "parliamentary activities allowance" was a suggestion from four Independent Members who made a common submission to me.

Electoral activities are funded separately. The Government has already implemented significant reform for political funding through the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012, which was brought through this House by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan. That Act will see political parties fully account for their spending and reduces the potential influence of outside funding by the further restriction of corporate donations. This Bill will build upon the changes to the Electoral Act by improving the transparency and accountability for the money from the public purse received by parties and independents for specifically parliamentary activities. The last item of primary legislation regarding this allowance was enacted in 2001. That Act saw the introduction of a limited requirement for leaders of political parties to account for the money spent from the allowance received in a statement of expenditure, to have that statement audited and to submit these documents to the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO. That commission will also be given more extensive powers to review the use of the allowance and to offer guidance. By allowing for the publication of guidelines, those in receipt of the allowance will be able to ensure that the money received is spent in an appropriate manner in future. At that time, these measures were restricted to party leaders and Independent Members were not obliged to account for the funds received. In the current climate and with the increased scrutiny on all public expenditure, this is no longer acceptable. This Bill provides that Independent Members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann will now be subject to the same reporting requirements that apply to party leaders and significantly enhances the level of accountability for those in receipt of such moneys.

I now propose to go through the provisions of the Bill. Section 2 of the Bill is based on current provisions and provides for the payment of the allowance to parliamentary leaders of qualifying parties and to qualifying Independent Members. It sets out the criteria for entitlement to the allowance and provides for a reduction in the current rates. It clarifies that the amount of an allowance payable to a parliamentary leader of a qualifying party is calculated on a tapering basis, rather than a flat rate basis being applied to the total membership of that party. The allowance may be used to fund parliamentary activities such as policy formulation, the procurement of technical advice or support services or for research and training. The main restriction on the use of the allowance is that it cannot be used for, or to recoup, electoral expenses. The section includes two new provisions. The first new provision provides that qualifying expenses arising out of parliamentary activities will only be regarded as qualifying expenditure where such expenditure is not otherwise reimbursed or provided for. The second new provision provides that, in view of the obligations to the Central Fund and for administrative efficiency, where an allowance is due and payable and a period of six month expires without the parliamentary leader or the Member concerned having claimed the allowance or part thereof, the part of the allowance for that period in excess of six months shall no longer be payable.

Section 3 of the Bill inserts eight new sections, namely, sections 10A to 10H, into the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938. I will deal with section 10B first as it contains the provisions whereby leaders of qualifying parties and Independent Members in receipt of the allowance must provide a statement of expenditure and accompanying auditor's report to the commission, that is, to SIPO. This section also outlines the procedure where a change in party leadership or the death of a party leader or Independent Member in receipt of the allowance occurs. Section 10A provides that should a recipient of the allowance fail to provide the required statement of expenditure and auditor's report within the required deadline of 120 days after the end of the financial year to the commission, they will receive no further funding from the allowance until such time as those documents are provided. The section also provides that should the commission find that the statement of expenditure does not comply with the legislation, the allowance will not be paid to that recipient until such time as the issues underlying that non-compliance have been addressed.

Section 10C provides for the retention of documentation by party leaders and independent members in support of the statement of expenditure provided to the commission. Section 10D provides powers to the commission to examine and assess the statements of expenditure provided to it and to make inquiries as necessary to do this. The section also outlines the process by which the commission may report its findings on the statements of expenditure received. Section 10E allows for the setting of a date when the above provisions will come into effect for Independent Members and for party leaders. This is in recognition of the fact that the necessary documentation may not have been collected prior to its being required by this legislation and that some advance notice of these requirements therefore is necessary. Section 10F provides that in the event that a party or Independent Member of the Oireachtas in receipt of the allowance loses their entitlement to the allowance, they must repay any unspent amounts received within 120 days of the end of the financial year. Section 10G provides that the commission may formulate and issue guidelines on the allowance and the statement of expenditure to be prepared by those in receipt of the allowance. This provision has been requested by the commission itself for some time, as previously no formal advisory role was given to the commission regarding these allowances. By allowing for the publication of guidelines, those in receipt of the allowance will be able to ensure the money received is spent appropriately and properly.

Section 4 of the Bill amends the existing legislation in order that any general round decreases that apply to the Civil Service also will apply to the rates of the allowance here. Previously, only general increases could be applied. This was not due to any design but to the fact that at the time the existing legislation was drafted, it was not envisaged that decreases would be implemented. Finally, section 5 of the Bill delivers on the commitment made by the Government to abolish severance payments for specified ministerial and parliamentary officeholders. These officeholders include the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, all Ministers and Ministers of State, the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Cathaoirleach, the Leas-Chathaoirleach, the Leader of Seanad Éireann and the Attorney General. The abolition of these payments will apply to both current and future holders of the offices in question.

Currently, no person is in receipt of these payments.

The Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 is a short Bill. The provisions in the Bill are in keeping with the Government's objective to continued stabilisation of the overall cost of the public service and, as part of this objective, provide for the reduction for the first time in the rates of these allowances, and for the abolition of severance payments. Greater transparency and accountability in the use of expenditure from the allowance will also be achieved, and the money received from the allowance will not only be spent appropriately but will have to be seen to be done so. At the same time, it sets out an agenda of reform for the future through ensuring the transparent and accountable use of funds provided by the Exchequer to support the democratic process.

I look forward to hearing the views of Members of the House on the Bill and to considering amendments and suggestions put forward by Senators.