Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The purpose of this short Bill is to strengthen the law on bribery of foreign public officials and to give fuller effect to certain provisions of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, which was adopted in 1997. The Bill broadens the existing legislation on the prevention of corruption and is designed primarily to ensure Ireland's full compliance with the OECD convention, which was ratified by Ireland in 2003. The Minister wishes to make sure that all of our international commitments and obligations in matters relating to foreign bribery and corruption in both the public and private sectors are addressed by way of legislation and are fully met.

The OECD is carrying out an evaluation of Ireland's compliance with the terms of the convention, which includes examining awareness of issues relating to bribery among the public and private sectors, as well as the relevant legislation. This evaluation, which commenced in 2002, is a process that all parties to the convention undergo. A team from the OECD visited Dublin in October 2006 to carry out the phase 2 evaluation of the application of the convention by the State, including examination of the relevant legislation. On foot of this visit a number of recommendations were made by the OECD evaluation team which were intended to ensure that Ireland met its phase 2 monitoring obligations more fully, and a report of the recommendations was published in 2007. Following the publication of the phase 2 report, as well as the new legislative proposals, Ireland took rapid steps to develop a number of initiatives to raise awareness of the foreign bribery offence, which I will discuss in more detail below after I have set out the key provisions in the legislation.

The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008 broadens the existing legislation on corruption. It extends certain definitions; for instance, the term "consideration" has been broadened to make clear that as well as monetary gain, the conferral of all types of advantage comes within the terms of this offence. With regard to corruption occurring outside the State, jurisdiction for this offence has been substantially extended to cover virtually all persons having a connection with the State, including companies and corporate bodies. The range of foreign public officials coming within the scope of the legislation has also been extended to include persons under the direct or indirect control of a foreign government as well as representatives of a wider section of international organisations. The Bill also provides new protection for whistleblowers, a term which covers employees and other persons who report suspected corruption offences in good faith.

In order to raise awareness of anti-corruption legislation, one of the Government's initiatives is the creation of an anti-corruption website, www.anticorruption.ie, by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The website is intended to increase knowledge of the OECD convention and of our obligations in this regard. Although set up by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the site represents a cross-departmental approach by the Government in raising awareness of the convention. It informs members of the public about the consequences of bribery and corruption for individuals and for companies working in an international business environment.

This year, the Government demonstrated its commitment to fulfilling all our obligations under the OECD anti-bribery convention by inviting the OECD examination team to carry out a further on-site evaluation in Ireland. The examination took place over a week-long period in June. The visit of the evaluation team on this occasion was characterised by the attendance and participation of a wide range of delegations, including representatives from all Departments, Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and members of An Garda Síochána and the Bar Council as well as representatives from civil society, NGOs, trade unions and others. The OECD is on record as stating it was very pleased with the level of co-operation and participation by the Irish authorities during their evaluation, and a report by the OECD evaluation team of their visit is expected to be published by the end of the year or early in 2009.

In addition to ensuring greater compliance with the OECD anti-bribery convention, the provisions of the anti-corruption legislation being put before the House today will contribute in no small way to the ratification process of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The text of this convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 58th session in October 2003 and opened for signature in December 2003. The convention was signed at that time by Ireland following approval by the Government. The UN convention is a comprehensive anti-corruption treaty whose stated purposes are to promote and strengthen measures to combat corruption more efficiently and effectively; to promote, facilitate and support international co-operation and technical assistance in the prevention of and fight against corruption; and to promote integrity, accountability and proper management in public affairs and public property. The provisions before the House regarding bribery of foreign public officials and the protections in the Bill for whistleblowers will also satisfy some of the key requirements of the UN convention, which the Government is committed to ratifying.

We already have a sophisticated body of anti-corruption legislation dating back to the late 19th century, which has frequently been updated, most recently by the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2001.

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