Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Tánaiste a question. Is he satisfied that SIPO is sufficiently empowered to investigate the decisions of taoisigh when necessary? I would appreciate an answer to that. I also asked when we are likely to see the publication of updated ethics legislation. I remind the Tánaiste that this legislation goes back many years. We have been promised this updated legislation for a long time. There was a draft Bill in 2015, which went into committee in 2017 and ran into the sand. Since then, it has been clear that Fine Gael is simply not interested in having updated ethics legislation. It seems there is no appetite within Fine Gael to bring us up to date with our ethics legislation. I ask the Tánaiste to answer the questions I have asked him. Does he think the powers of SIPO in respect of the actions of taoisigh are adequate at the moment? When will we see the legislation to update the powers of SIPO which it has sought for the past 20 years?

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