Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Section 2 amends section 5, statements of Members' registerable interests for clerks, of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 in two ways. First, it amends the 1995 Act to require Oireachtas Members, including officeholders, to furnish to the Standards in Public Office Commission a statement that the Member is in compliance with the new requirements on benefits from friends that have been inserted into the 1995 Act by section 4 of this Bill.

Second, it amends the 1995 Act to provide that where a Member, including an officeholder, has no registerable interests during the period comprehended by his or her annual ethics statement, he or she must furnish a statement in writing of that fact, together with a statement of compliance with the new requirement being proposed by this Bill, to the commission.

Section 2(a) amends section 5 of the 1995 Act to require Members' statements of registerable interests to the Standards in Public Office Commission to include a statement that the Members are in compliance with the requirement being imposed by section 4 of the Bill to obtain the opinion of the commission on benefits received from a friend for personal reasons only and worth in aggregate more than €2,000 in the statement period.

Section 2(b) replaces section 5(2) of the 1995 Act and requires Members, including officeholders, who do not have any registerable interests to prepare a statement in writing of that fact, as is provided for in section 5(2), and where this is the case, also to furnish at the same time as their nil statement a statement that they have complied with the new requirement on benefits from friends. The nil statement and the statement of compliance are to be furnished to the Standards in Public Office Commission.