Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

94. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of his plans to reform the Standards in Public Office Commission; and when the Heads of the Ethics in Public Office Standards Bill 2015 will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48283/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We made a commitment in the 2020 Programme for Government to ‘reform and consolidate the Ethics in Public Office legislation’. As the first step, I asked my Department to undertake a review of the statutory framework in advance of bringing fresh proposals for reform to Government. I am happy to inform the Deputy that this process is now well advanced.

I expect the Ethics Review to be completed in the coming weeks. When I have considered the review’s findings, I will bring a report to Government, with proposals for the way forward. I intend to return to Government later in the year seeking approval of a general scheme of a Bill.

In developing a renewed legislative approach, my Department has taken as its point of departure the policy framework developed for the 2015 Public Sector Standards Bill. As the Deputy may recall, this Bill was published in December 2015. It commenced Second Stage in the Dáil in January 2016 and Committee Stage commenced in April 2017 - but was not finalised. The Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Dail in January 2020, in advance of that year’s General Election.

The underlying policy approach involves consolidation of the statutory framework for ethics and giving effect to relevant recommendations of the Mahon and Moriarty Tribunals. Notably, it would see a significant strengthening of the legal obligations on public officials to disclose, as a matter of routine, actual and potential conflicts of interest, including, for the first time, provision for the confidential disclosure of liabilities over a certain threshold, in addition to sources of income and assets.

In this, my ultimate goal is to build a fit-for-purpose, easy to understand and user-friendly statutory framework for Ethics that contributes to the quality and effectiveness of our public governance and by so doing enhances trust and confidence in public officials and our democratic institutions.