Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I raise this matter to plea that the remit and scope of the Standards in Public Office Commission be extended. Both the Quigley report and today's Standards in Public Office Commission report show that existing standards are set extremely low. To clear the air, there must be fundamental reform of the Standards in Public Office Commission to ensure the Government is accountable and transparent and to ensure decisions are made in a clear and understandable way.

Reforms are necessary to ensure that when a Minister puts pressure to have somebody employed on an urgent basis, it will be a matter of public record. Details of such contracts must be made public the moment they are signed. People deserve to know what is happening. It is not good enough that somebody can work on a lucrative contract for a Department while, at the same time, also being involved in serious fundraising in the Minister's constituency. There is a clear conflict of interest. Investigations to date have shown there is a need to reform the legislation on ethics in public office and the standards in public office legislation. We must ensure the commission is given more clout and that where there is impropriety or the perception of impropriety there will be an investigation.

Will the Minister outline the instances in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government since the Government took office where contracts have been awarded as a matter of extreme urgency without regard to the normal tendering process? The Taoiseach should lay before the House the various instances where such contracts have been awarded by each Minister so the air can be cleared on this matter. With regard to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, was there a difficulty in external communication prior to Deputy Cullen taking office in mid-2002? Was there a crying need to employ a consultant to look after the Department's public relations?

Will the Minister for Finance or the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government consider putting in place measures to ensure companies or individuals that have substantial contracts with Departments are precluded from political fundraising for the Minister overseeing those Departments? There is a conflict of interest if those individuals are working by day for the Department and volunteering to work for the Minister by night. That has to be addressed within the legislation.

I wonder if the Minister will ensure that an up-to-date register of consultants is kept and that their terms of reference are a matter of public record? In light of the recent investigations by the Standards in Public Office Commission, will the Minister consider putting clear criteria in place for foreign travel by consultants engaged by the Department?

Does the Taoiseach have any plans to extend the scope and remit of the Standards in Public Office Commission? I would like to know whether there are criteria in place for the engagement of public relations consultants by Departments and, if so, may we have a copy of them? It certainly leaves me scratching my head to know that there was a reputable firm of public relations consultants, Drury Communications, working on a significant contract for the Department, yet the Minister in his wisdom saw fit to engage another consultant on an ad hoc basis, that was later subjected to a clear tendering process.

I am concerned that a consultant engaged on an ad hoc basis and then ratified through a tender process was in a key position when it came to awarding another lucrative contract for the dissemination of information regarding electronic voting.

All in all, there is still a murky aspect to this affair, elements of which remain to be addressed. I want the Government to address them. The affair reflects badly on the Minister, Deputy Cullen, on the Taoiseach and on the Government. The Government should shed light on an issue that is important to the proper carrying out of its work. It is crucial to ensure that the Government is held accountable and that the Government is in touch with the people rather than remaining arrogant and aloof in its deliberations and actions.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen. Deputy Cuffe's Adjournment matter calls for the scope and remit of the Standards in Public Office Commission to be extended. As the House is aware, the Standards in Public Office Commission has extensive powers to investigate matters under the provisions of the relevant legislation, in particular, sections 4 and 7 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.

There are no plans at present to extend the scope and remit of these powers of investigation. In the course of Deputy Cuffe's contribution I did not hear any concrete proposal as to how they should be extended. The operation of the Act and any representations in regard to its scope and remit, are kept under review at the Department of Finance, subject at all times to the independence of the Standards in Public Office Commission in the exercise of its functions.

I note that the Deputy has not made any specific proposal about the scope and remit of the Act — only a general aspiration that it should be extended. The Minister for Finance will certainly consider any specific proposals that might be made but there is no indication available to him that the existing legislation does not provide adequate powers for the commission in this regard.

In summary, there is no specific indication that the scope and remit of the Standards in Public Office Commission require extension. However, this is relatively recent legislation and a relatively new statutory body. In monitoring the commission's operations, the Department will be receptive to suggestions, including suggestions from the commission itself as to how its operations and effectiveness might be improved.

Deputy Cuffe raised a number of matters concerning the Taoiseach and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen. I must point out to Deputy Cuffe, however, that these matters have been canvassed extensively in the Quigley report. Many of the questions Deputy Cuffe has raised were dealt with and answered by Mr. Quigley in his report, which was requested by the Taoiseach and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas some time ago.

As regards the other matters to which the Deputy referred, he can elicit the information in the normal way through tabling parliamentary questions.

Deputy Cuffe raised one other matter fundamental to the operation of democracy here — that is, his suggestion that persons who are not public servants should be precluded from engaging in political activities. I certainly do not agree with that. It is yet another example of the tendency of the Green Party to try to manufacture a political stage that will only convenience them, and to say that everyone else should get off the stage.