ALL prospective general election candidates should be obliged to have tax clearance certificates before they can become TDs, according to Mr Sean Power TD (FF, Kildare).
If people wanted to do business with the "arms of State" they had to have a tax clearance certificate. If Kildare County Council wanted to give a contract to someone to fill a pothole, that person would have to have a certificate, he said.
"Why should we make demands on other people that we are not prepared to make on ourselves?" All parties in the House had been accused at different times of low standards.
Democracy had been undermined in recent weeks and it was vital that public confidence be restored, Mr Power said.
