Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I listened to the Taoiseach's initial reply which is almost word for word the reply he gave to the same question in May. In essence, he is saying that the Government will carry out a review of the code of conduct for officeholders following enactment of the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007. The problem with that reply is that the ethics legislation appears to be going nowhere. The Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007 is the product of the grandstanding in October 2006 of the then Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, former Deputy Michael McDowell who obtained a commitment that this legislation would be introduced to ensure an officeholder, who is unsure as to whether he or she should accept a gift, can seek the opinion of the Standards in Public Office Commission in that regard. The Bill which was passed by the Seanad in July 2007 is going nowhere as far as this House is concerned.

The Taoiseach, in his capacity as Minister for Finance with overall responsibility for this Bill, stated in January 2008 that it was his intention to have the Bill passed by this House that session. However, that did not happen. It appears to me the Government has no serious intention of having this legislation enacted. In those circumstances, will the Taoiseach undertake a review of the code of conduct for officeholders irrespective of the passage of the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill 2007? If, as implied in the Taoiseach's reply, the code of conduct requires to be reviewed will he agree to carry out this review irrespective of the Government's intentions in respect of the amendment of the ethics legislation?

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