The resignation of Mr Denis Foley TD as a member of the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party is a welcome indication that tax evasion is regarded as a serious transgression within the State's largest political party. But the fact that it took six weeks for Mr Foley to surrender his position as vice-chairman of the Dail Public Accounts Committee and a further two weeks to relinquish his membership of the parliamentary party would suggest an unwillingness by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to take tough, prompt action in a matter that impacted directly on public confidence in the political system.
In 1996, Mr Michael Lowry resigned as a government minister and from the Fine Gael party when it was revealed that his business affairs had been conducted in a highly irregular fashion through offshore accounts. And when details of Mr Charles Haughey's life as a kept politician surfaced some time later, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, went to a Fianna Fail Ard Fheis and promised to introduce new ethical standards within the party. Since then, we have had the resignation of a disgraced Mr Ray Burke from politics; disclosures concerning a £50,000 donation to Mr Padraig Flynn and the resignation of Mr Foley. But the promised ethical guidelines have only now been agreed. And they fall far short of the tough measures originally proposed.
The report by the McCracken tribunal, in 1997, endorsed an original Fianna Fail recommendation that tax clearance certificates from the Revenue Commissioners should be required of all elected representatives, as they are of businessmen seeking government contracts. In addition, the report recommended that false declarations under the Ethics in Public Office Act should be made a criminal offence, rather than be dealt with by the Oireachtas. In response to the report, the Taoiseach told the Dail its recommendations would be "honoured quickly".
That has not happened. A tax clearance certificate will not be required of Oireachtas members. And any temporary suspension of Dail members for breaches of the Ethics Act will be imposed within Leinster House. Last year, an all-party committee rejected the concept of certification, but agreed that members should confirm that "to the best of their knowledge they were fulfilling their obligations under the tax code". Yesterday members of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party would agree only to sign a pledge saying they had complied with, or were in the process of complying with, their tax obligations.
Mr Foley has resigned as a member of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party, but he remains a member of the organisation and will continue to support the Coalition Government in the Dail. It would appear that having up to £30,000 in an offshore Ansbacher account, designed to evade tax, is an offence that warrants withdrawal of the party whip, but not expulsion from the party as a whole. Mr Ahern said in the Dail last night that Mr Foley is now, in effect, an Independent TD. So he is. But Mr Foley will retain his membership of Fianna Fail unless he resigns voluntarily or is expelled by the national executive for "conduct unbecoming" a party member.
Neither of those things is likely to happen. And, next week, the Government chief whip is expected to enter negotiations with the newly Independent TD on the terms under which he will provide Dail support for the minority Coalition Government. In such circumstances it is difficult to blame the public for the cynical attitude it adopts towards politics and politicians. Mr Ahern is not living up to the commitments he made to the Dail in the aftermath of the McCracken report.