Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

My questions are simple. Has this report been brought to the Government? Does the Minister accept its recommendations? When will legislation be implemented to put in place these recommendations? Let us not mind the Green Paper, which is happening anyway — this is in the programme for Government. Is there a timeframe for this, given the proximity of the local elections? Considering that there will be local elections next summer, it is ridiculous that there is a cap on general election spending but no cap whatsoever — in fact, the sky is the limit — on local election spending.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Cowen, has already rejected pleas by the Standards in Public Office Commission to change the law to strengthen its investigation powers. Is the Government now saying that it is telling the commission to just buzz off on this issue as well?

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