Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 6 April 2017
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage
10:00 am
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
I will indeed reflect on it. I think it might be helpful to see this section in light of section 11, which lays out values and guidance in relation to a gift. It says a public official shall not accept a gift which exceeds the value of €600, except, I hasten to add, where the gift is unconnected with the performance of his or her functions. It lays out that a public official "shall not accept gifts from the same person, the value of which, in aggregate, exceed €600 over the period of a year". Section 11 (4) states, "Where a gift the value of which exceeds €600 is given to a public official, then, unless the gift is unconnected with the performance of the official’s functions, he or she shall, within 14 days [do the following]". I would see all of this in the light of the fact that we are talking about something that has to exceed €600 in value. I will examine the matter in order to discover if it is anchored in other legislation elsewhere whether a difficulty would arise if we were to change the period from 14 to 21 days.
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