Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

That answer surprises me because I understand the Standards in Public Office Commission has made a series of recommendations for changes in the code of conduct and the purpose of a review was to take account of those recommendations. The Taoiseach stated in his reply to the original question that the review would be done when the Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill was passed, yet he is now saying there is no reason to review the code of conduct. If there is no reason to review it there are clearly no grounds for all these consultations with the SIPO Commission.

I ask the Taoiseach to be clear. Is he saying there will be no review of the code of conduct? If he is saying that, fair enough. It is a straight answer. However, in his reply he said it would be reviewed in consultation with the SIPO Commission after the long-awaited Ethics in Public Office (Amendment) Bill had been dealt with.

See this speech in context