Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Minister that reform in this area is extremely important. My understanding in regard to the forthcoming Bill is that it does not make provision for an extension of the cooling off period to two years. Section 7 of the Bill which Deputy Doherty and I drafted amends section 22 of the principal Act and extends the cooling off period for designated public officials leaving public office from one to two years. This particular move from one to two years is recommended, including by the Standards in Public Office Commission, and by various experts who appeared before the finance committee. It is felt that one year is insufficient to mitigate the use of former networks that can be used to trade influence and that a two-year cooling off period would be far more effective. Can the Minister advise his rationale for not extending the cooling-off period?

See this speech in context