Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The code of conduct for office holders, which is the subject of Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, covers the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, Ministers, Ministers of State, the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and the Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Seanad. The Standards in Public Office Commission generally oversees the implementation of the ethics Acts. It can take the code of conduct for office holders into account when investigating the activities of office holders. That is where it comes into play. It would not make sense to review the code of conduct in advance of the enactment of the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007, which will amend the ethics framework. The code of conduct will have to be amended to take account of that legislation after it has been enacted. This country's first ethics legislation, the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, is not relevant to actions carried out before 1995.

The legislation in respect of which Deputy Kenny is seeking clarification will do three things. First, it will require office holders and Members of the Oireachtas to seek the opinion of the Standards in Public Office Commission before they accept gifts or loans from friends for personal reasons which are, in aggregate, worth more than €2,000 in a calendar year. If the acceptance of the gift or loan is to be permitted, the commission will have to form the opinion, and abide by that opinion, that it will not materially influence the recipient in the performance of his or her duties and functions. Members will be required to seek an opinion from the Standards in Public Office Commission before they receive, or acknowledge the receipt of, a gift or loan that is worth more than €2,000 from a friend.

Second, the legislation will increase the threshold above which a gift to an office holder must be surrendered to the State, unless it is a political donation, a gift given by virtue of another office or a gift from a friend or relative for personal reasons only. The threshold, which is set at €650, will be increased to €2,000. Third, the legislation will increase the threshold for the disclosure of registrable interests from €650 to €2,000. The threshold for income from a trade or profession will be increased from €2,600 to €5,000. The threshold for a shareholding or an interest in land will increase from €13,000 to €20,000. The threshold for a contract to provide goods or services to the public service will increase from €6,500 to €10,000.

The Committee on Members' Interests of Dáil Éireann and the Committee on Members' Interests of Seanad Éireann were consulted about the key provisions of the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007, including all the revised thresholds, in spring of last year. Both committees replied in March 2007. The Seanad committee was in agreement with the proposed changes. The Dáil committee welcomed the proposals as it considered that they would further strengthen the accountability of Members of the Oireachtas to the public in the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. The Whips, in conjunction with the Minister for Finance, will decide when the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007 will be considered by the House. Those are the issues.

I will comment on the new €2,000 requirement. Members will be required to consult the Standards in Public Office Commission before they accept gifts or loans for personal reasons. The €2,000 figure has been decided on as part of an attempt to strike a balance. The figure needs to be small enough to be meaningful as an ethics requirement, but it also needs to be big enough to ensure that Members of the Oireachtas and office holders do not have to spend time counting and valuing every ordinary gift they receive from friends and that the Standards in Public Office Commission does not have to deal with applications about relatively minor gifts. I think the €2,000 figure represents a fair compromise between these two considerations.

We need to bear in mind that the thresholds have not been increased since they were first introduced in 1995. I accept that minor adjustments were made in 2002, when these figures were converted into convenient euro amounts. The thresholds have not been increased significantly in the 13 years since 1995. The Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007 will set the thresholds for some years to come. It is a question of striking a balance without negating the basic intent of the legislation.

In its 2006 annual report, which was published in the summer of 2007, the Standards in Public Office Commission made various recommendations for changes to the ethics legislation. It proposed that it be given the power to appoint an inquiry officer even if it has not received a complaint. The commission already has the authority to take an initiative to launch an investigation into breaches of the ethics legislation when it considers it appropriate to do so. There is a difference between appointing an inquiry officer and initiating an investigation. At present, the commission can appoint an inquiry officer only when it has received a complaint. Inquiry officers conduct interviews with those who make complaints and other relevant people, request documents, show the complaints to those who are the subject of complaints, detail the evidence to such people and take statements from them etc. They do not make determinations on complaints — they are merely responsible for gathering evidence. However, the commission can ask an inquiry officer for his or her opinion on whether there is enough prima facie evidence to sustain a complaint.

When I was Minister for Finance, I told the House that I did not intend to amend the law to enable the Standards in Public Office Commission to appoint an inquiry officer without first having received a complaint. It is reasonable to require that a complaint be made to the commission before the inquiry process, which can have serious consequences for office holders and senior public servants, can be commenced. Complaints about Members of the Oireachtas who are not office holders are matters for the relevant Committee on Members' Interests in the first instance. Numerous categories of people, including members of the public and public representatives, are entitled to make a complaint against office holders and public servants to the Standards in Public Office Commission. My attitude is that such complaints can have serious consequences for those who become the subject of inquiry, as I said. I do not believe inquiries should be conducted if nobody has made a complaint. That is fair.

Most of the other amendments to the ethics legislation suggested by the commission are technical. One of them is already catered for in the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007. Another one is catered for in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006, which was recently passed by the Dáil and is currently before the Seanad. I indicated that the Government accepts the rest of the commission's technical proposals. Amendments to cater for them will be circulated in advance of the Committee Stage debate on the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007.

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