Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

To be of assistance to the Minister, I believe the Taoiseach inadvertently misled the Dáil regarding ratification of the UN convention against corruption. In previous answers he said there were two Bills for which the lead responsibility was the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which would enable the convention to be ratified. The Minister has just referred to the publication of the prevention of corruption amendment Bill, which was promised for this session but will be brought forward next session. However, that Bill is not sufficient to ratify the UN convention. I need to establish this as a fact. The non-governmental organisations are running a campaign on this issue; I ran a campaign on it about two years ago. The Taoiseach should either clarify what I believe he told the Dáil — if I am wrong I will be glad to hear it — and what the Minister has just said. I am simply saying that the prevention of corruption amendment Bill facilitates signing up to the OECD guidelines. It does not enable ratification to take place. What is contained in the White Paper is simple; I understand it is also in the Government programme. It states that the Government will ratify the United Nations convention against all corruption. Will it ratify the convention and, if so, when will it happen? When will the two Bills that have been lingering in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform be ready? Will it be ratified next session?

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