Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

I welcome the Minister and agree with Senator Keane that these amendments are very welcome. We have had a series of tribunals and the public rightly claim their reports ended up on the shelf with no action ever taken. To see action taken directly on the recommendations of the Mahon tribunal with this legislation is indeed welcome, as is the general thrust of bringing more clarity, transparency and accountability to politics. While we talk about the voluntary nature of political parties, it is very difficult if they themselves cannot be held to account. How can public representatives call for other groups and organisations to be held to account when their own parties are not held to account in a greater way than they have been in the past? I welcome all efforts in this legislation to do this, as well as its general thrust.