Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to make some brief comments on this EU anti-corruption directive. I welcome it. Ireland has had its brushes with corruption in the past, which have held us back decades. To be fair, I think things are improving but we cannot let down our guard in the light of recent events. I would like to focus on prevention in particular. Prevention and deterrents are very important.

I agree with the emphasis on a public awareness campaign. It is not just a whole-of-government approach that is needed to tackle this but a whole-of-society one. There is corruption in clubs, villages and towns across the country and it needs to be stamped out wherever it exists.

There is also a focus on open access to information. This is where the freedom of information, FOI, process comes in. Any information that is of public interest should be readily accessible. The general data protection regulation, GDPR, is often used, sometimes for good reason and sometimes for reasons that are not so good. Much of the time it is used as an excuse not to give publicly necessary information. We need to look at that from an FOI perspective. More information relating to conflicts of interest, or potential conflicts, is also a good thing.

The second main focus is on having one legal framework - a one-stop shop, basically, for all these anti-corruption measures and offences. That is a very good idea so we can harmonise from a bribery point of view, from a misappropriation point of view and with regard to abusive trading practices.

The final aspect is the enforcement perspective and the resourcing of An Garda Síochána. I know the Minister of State is involved in this. It is important that we have the tools to enforce these policies. We can have all the laws we want but unless they can be enforced there is no point in having them in the first place.

There was mention of lifting privileges and immunity for people suspected of corruption. I am not sure what that would involve. Does it relate to diplomatic staff or foreign officials? If the Minister of State has further information on that, it would very much appreciated. I also agree with extending the statute of limitations. It does not matter how far we go back; corruption is corruption whether it took place two years ago or 22 years ago. We should have access to all the information needed to stamp it out and if it is uncovered, we should be able to prosecute where appropriate so people can be held accountable for their governance failures.

I welcome this directive. It is good in general, and I look forward to its swift implementation.

See this speech in context