Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The majority of those 22 recommendations are captured in the legislation Deputy Mairéad Farrell and I have sponsored. It was easy enough to draft because the recommendations were so clear. I would like to hear, perhaps at a later stage, any issues, questions or concerns the commission has with regard to the implementation of some of it. When the recommendations were made in 2019, the Department assessed them and responded. SIPO expressed disappointment at the time that not one of the recommendations was endorsed. The commission said at the time that the recommendations of the Department's report suggested "most concerns about the legislation raised as part of the review process may be addressed through greater guidance and clarification by the Commission." The commission went on to say:

[I]t is the Commission’s view that this does not accurately reflect the range of specific issues that can only be addressed through legislative amendment. This includes, for example, introducing enforcement powers for breaches of the Act’s post-employment provisions, as well as requiring public officials to decline further communications with persons who fail to comply with the Act.

That point has been made a number of times. Has the commission had any interaction with the Department since? There seems to be two very different views here. The Department believes that greater guidance from the Standards in Public Office Commission is required. I do not share this view; I am the sponsor of this legislation. However, I want to hear both sides. The Department believes we need greater guidance from SIPO to deal with some of these issues. In respect of one matter, the cooling-off period, it has asked to be shown examples. We have a very clear example now. I will not go into specifics but there was a controversy recently. Has the commission seen any indication that the Department has come around in any way to SIPO's consistent and persistent view that the recommendations need to be enacted?