Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 9, inclusive, together.

The code of conduct for office holders was drawn up by the Government following consultation with the Standards in Public Office Commission and has applied since 3 July 2003. I have exchanged recent correspondence with the commission with regard to the provisions of section 2.2.3 of the code with a view to providing office holders with clear guidelines as to the usage of public resources in the context of public events or advertising.

This is the only issue that has arisen since the code came into operation and I firmly believe we would be ill advised to begin considering amending or replacing it until we have allowed sufficient time to review its operation particularly in the context of a general election period.

See this speech in context