Written answers

Thursday, 20 January 2022

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Ethics in Public Office

Photo of Mairead FarrellMairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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61. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will consider as part of his review of the ethics framework making the registrable interests of the person occupying the position of Attorney General publicly available in the same way as elected representatives. [2516/22]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the current statutory provisions (the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001, cited together as ‘the Ethics Acts’) oblige the Attorney General to disclose interests (including those of family members) which may materially influence the performance of his or her functions to both the Taoiseach and to the Standards in Public Office Commission. He or she must also comply with the tax clearance obligations of the Ethics Acts, which require that a tax clearance certificate be furnished on his or her appointment.

However, while the Ethics Acts provide that the registerable interests of our law-makers in the Dáil and Seanad are made public via the respective Registers of Interest for each House, the declarations required under the Ethics Acts from non-elected public officials are not published.

Under the Constitution, the Attorney is an appointed advisor to, but not a member of, the Government. He or she has no vote in Cabinet, but, as I have pointed out, the statutory framework obliges him or her to make the Taoiseach and the Standards in Public Office Commission aware of any conflicts of interest arising on his or her part so that this can be taken into account in the Government's decision-making process.

I should clarify further that if an Attorney General happens to be a member of the Oireachtas he or she is deemed to be an office holder (in the same way as a minister), and in addition to their published registrable interests required as a member he or she would be required to disclose additional interests of spouse or family members.  

We made a commitment in the 2020 Programme for Government to reform and consolidate the Ethics legislation. In preparation, as the Deputy points out, my Department is undertaking a review of the statutory framework, which will inform proposals for reform that I intend to bring forward.  In this regard, I wish to acknowledge the Deputy’s submission on behalf of her party to the public consultation that I undertook as part of this Review. I will seek to take full account of the views of all interested parties, including on the issue to which the Deputy refers, and my Department remains open to further engagement on this important policy agenda, which is so significant for the health of our democracy.

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