Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The next set of questions deals with that issue. This question relates to whether there are any changes envisaged in the code of conduct. That code of conduct does not stand in isolation, it stands as part of a wider ethics framework established by the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. Section 10(7) of the Standards in Public Office Act binds officeholders to have regard to and be guided by the code. The code cannot impose any new requirements that are not already set out in legislation; it mainly attempts to provide guidance at a level of detail that would be difficult to express in legislation. I am not aware that any of the issues raised by Deputy Kenny has been brought to the attention of the Standards in Public Office Commission in any way or is in breach of the code of conduct.

In the new economic circumstances in which we find ourselves, all Departments and agencies are required to be mindful of the costs of conducting business in every respect, both at home and abroad. That is being done and various subsistence and travel allowances have been cut extensively and, rightly so, in present circumstances. Obviously arrangements have been put in place to deal with that. The important point to make regarding the code of conduct is that it does not stand in isolation, it is a more detailed code in respect of the statutory provisions laid down by the 1995 and 2001 Acts.

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