Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As he rightly stated, we had a long discussion on this matter on Committee Stage. Obviously, I consulted Revenue subsequently. I agree with the principle of the amendment, in that every Member should be tax compliant. As I explained on Committee Stage, however, my difficulty lies in accepting an amendment that is not practical or that will impose an unclear duty on a political party. Much of our Committee Stage discussion did not centre on legislation for which I am responsible, but on the Electoral Acts. It is probably those that we should consider.

I listened to the Deputy's comments on SIPO. The advice I have received is that SIPO could not impose such regulations without a statutory underpinning, but we must discuss the matter with Revenue. We will revert on this suite of issues when we deal with the consolidated ethics Bill that we are working on and that we hope to introduce to the House before the end of the year. I will bear this matter in mind while that Bill is being drafted.

See this speech in context