The Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, is a lucky man. In many other mature democracies, his behaviour in securing lucrative employment for a political associate would be a resigning matter. Here, however, things are done differently. And the laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest and unethical behaviour - along with their political perception - are still maturing.
Mr Cullen's political career has been damaged by the episode. And he - along with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern - has publicly acknowledged that lessons have been learned. That, at least, is a positive development. Given the long tradition of dispensing favours to political supporters in this State and the use of "inside tracks" by the associates of those in government, the need to bring transparency and accountability to such matters is fundamental. In that regard, however, the way in which we deal with such matters is clearly inadequate.
After taking extensive legal advice and reviewing the available evidence, the Standards in Public Office Commission concluded that a prima facie case of unethical behaviour had not been established against Mr Cullen. And it decided to drop the investigation. Specifically, it examined whether the Minister should have made a formal declaration in relation to his involvement in securing contracts for Ms Monica Leech and whether his actions were inconsistent with proper performance. But, because the legislation didn't directly address the behaviour of the Minister, the commission's hands were tied.
The outcome reflected the Quigley report into the same matter. Mr Quigley found that while regulations had not been broken when the Minister urged the appointment of Ms Leech, a Waterford-based consultant, the matter had lent itself to a perception of impropriety. And a range of reforms was proposed to ensure it would not happen again. As a consequence, public relations contracts will be vetted within the Taoiseach's Department from now on and ministerial recommendations will be open to scrutiny.
This latest development has removed political pressure from the Minister and the Government. But it has exposed the inadequacies of existing legislation and the mechanism used to enforce it. Speed is of the essence in dealing with political controversy and, in that regard, the Standards in Public Office Commission is something of a tortoise. The majority of its members hold down other high-profile jobs and, in spite of their best efforts, even a preliminary investigation takes an excessive amount of time. Its one-and-only full inquiry into ministerial impropriety lasted almost a year.
Because of such delays and anticipated political pressure, it became generally accepted in recent weeks that if the commission embarked upon a full inquiry, Mr Cullen would have no option but to resign. Such an outcome would have been unfair and would run counter to natural justice. Everybody should be entitled to due process. Because of that, a better, swifter way must be found in dealing with ethical issues.