Mr. Jim O'Keeffe:

I understand that remark. It should be possible to provide that declarations be made but not made public except in special circumstances such as inquiries or court proceedings and so on. It is a difficult issue. While it would not be an issue for me personally it would certainly be an issue for the person involved in terms of his or her family and connected persons.

On the point regarding conflict of interests, I am of the view that the atmosphere and culture around what is acceptable has changed and improved a great deal since my time in office. Much of what was happening when I first entered politics is now considered abhorrent. I am not speaking in that regard about brown envelopes. Even though I lived through the tribunals and so on I had no experience of brown envelopes. The type of corruption about which Deputy McDonald has spoken was possibly far more relevant then. As to how we deal with it, I am not so sure. We must keep the current trend going and ensure enactment of decent legislation. Model codes of conduct and sectoral codes based on the model code, perhaps, statutorily based, might help, particularly in the context of the people likely to be affected. It must be emphasised that we are speaking not only about elected representatives but 300,000 plus public servants. These people must be made aware of what is happening and be willing to buy into it. There will also need to be adequate guidance and training at all levels. One will probably find that currently this is not happening. The Standards in Public Office, SIPO, commission will have a huge role to play into the future in terms of promotion, guidance and training.