Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That needs to be done urgently. Time and again, SIPO, in its annual reports, has pointed out the lacuna that currently exists in section 22 of the Act. SIPO needs the power to initiate investigations. A range of things must be done to ensure confidence and trust in politics, and that involves empowering SIPO, reforming the organisation and giving that important watchdog sufficient teeth.

My party, as the Minister will know, back in the 1990s and between 2011 and 2016, made great strides to take big money out of politics. We see now, however, that those laws are being sidelined by some parties which are moving money from one jurisdiction to another, and sidestepping Irish law. That is deeply unfair and it is an issue that must be addressed. We must look at ethics and the conduct of politics in this country in the round and holistically.

I propose that when we are reviewing ethics legislation that we need to do that in concert with the establishment, for example, of the electoral commission. Those issues need to be looked at side by side. This is an urgent matter. We must have a level playing field in respect of how politics is conducted. We do not have that now, and the Minister must be conscious of that when he is crafting new legislation to address all these urgent issues facing this polity.

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