Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I challenge Deputy Flanagan to examine the conclusions of Mr. Justice Flood in his report on the issue. He clearly and totally vindicated any involvement I had with regard to any inquiry I made.

I acknowledge this is amending legislation. It is intended primarily to comply with international commitments. It is peripheral to many of the matters which the Deputies raised. Its main purpose is to strengthen the law on corruption and ensure fuller compliance with the OECD convention on bribery for foreign public officials in international business transactions. As I stated, it is helpful in progressing the ratification of the UN convention against corruption.

This Bill is not designed to deal with the issue of domestic corruption, to which most of the Deputies referred. In this jurisdiction we already have modern and effective anti-corruption legislation such as the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2001, both of which are further amended by this Bill. We also have the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

Deputies Rabbitte and Joe Carey raised the question of the number of convictions during recent years. With regard to corruption related offences in the Republic, the statistics I have to hand with regard to convictions for offences including fraud, embezzlement and corruption are that in 2004 there were 26, in 2005 there were nine and in 2006 there were six.

Recently, the Law Reform Commission restated the body of anti-corruption statutes. Therefore, we will have an opportunity to consider the question of possible consolidation of all of this legislation in the future and we must decide further on this. Furthermore, Ireland has ratified a range of international instruments on the issue of corruption and this is the context in which the Bill is presented to the House. Ireland is also party to a significant number of important international agreements on corruption.

The provision in the Bill to protect for whistleblowers is important. It provides protection against liability for damages, penalisation by an employer of persons who report in good faith an opinion that an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Acts has been or is committed. The OECD was of the view that such a provision should be included in the Bill and the Government readily agreed. This type of protection is not new in Irish law. A similar provision is contained in the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 and a provision to regulate for similar protection is contained in the Garda Síochána Act 2005. We work closely with the OECD on compliance with this important convention and we will continue to do so.

To return to the issues raised by Deputies Joe Carey and Charles Flanagan, the most recent visit of the OECD, which happened at our invitation, was a number of months ago and meetings took place with a wide variety of groups including Departments, lawyers, NGOs, trade unions and many representatives from the private sector. The OECD stated it was satisfied with the meetings it had and I assure Deputies that the report will be published soon.

With regard to the points made by Deputy Charles Flanagan, we understand that matters have greatly improved since the 2007 report and that this will be confirmed in the OECD report. Information dissemination initiatives are being organised by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in conjunction with the private sector. A website has been created by my Department in this respect. The interagency senior officials compliance committee has been established and is in operation. The OECD has expressed great satisfaction with its establishment and has asked that it be kept in operation when this legislation has been enacted and I can give this undertaking.

Deputies Charles Flanagan and Rabbitte stated there is a deficit of legislation in this area. I do not accept this and I have already instanced the extensive body of legislation, particularly dealing with the domestic scene. This Bill is an addition to the existing prevention of corruption legislation which I outlined earlier.

A number of recent measures taken at our own initiative include the creation of the website to which I referred and the senior officials compliance committee. The Government will continue to review all legislative and resource requirements needed to combat corruption at all levels. The globalisation of financial services and business generally has meant the international dimension to the issue of corruption has become more complicated and is likely to continue to do so. This is why we must continue to work closely with bodies such as the OECD, the United Nations, the EU and the Council of Europe to meet these challenges. The passing of the Bill will play a significant part in this process and I thank the Deputies for their constructive comments.

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