The Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) is more of a “lapdog” than the watchdog it is supposed to be because of the failure of successive governments to give it the powers it desperately needs, the Dáil has been told.
Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall claimed the Government has “utterly failed” to reform ethics in public office legislation because they “don’t appear to be serious about it” despite a commitment four years ago in the programme for Government.
But Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe dismissed her claim and accused her of insinuating “that there are some kind of ulterior motives” about the reform Bill.
He said he believed it was “achievable” to have the Bill passed in this Dáil’s lifetime but Ms Shortall said “there isn’t a hope in hell of this legislation being through before the general election”.
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A report of the review of current legislation went to Government in December 2022 and was published two months later. The Government approved a new Bill and drafting of the heads of the Bill – its main principles – is “nearly done”.
Sipo oversees ethics, electoral, State finance and lobbying legislation and promotes transparency and accountability in public office. It has however repeatedly called for additional powers to be able to properly carry out its functions.
Ms Shortall said there had been “incredible delays” with the new legislation and “20 years now since Sipo started identifying the serious gaps in its powers. It is supposed to be a watchdog but it seems to be more of a lapdog at this stage because of the failure of successive Governments to give it the powers it so desperately needs,” she said.
“In its annual report every year, Sipo identifies all of the areas where it simply does not have the powers to do the job it should be doing.”
The review looked at a number of issues including ethics, the use of insider information, disclosure requirements and employment restrictions for elected officials and public servants who change jobs.
Ms Shortall pointed to the “whole lobbying area and the seamless movement from politics to the lobbying industry that we have seen involving a number of Government ministers and ex-TDs”.
She said there was a real urgency about the issue. “The political system needs the Government to stand up for the system and restore confidence in it,” and there had been a number of instances where Sipo did not have adequate powers to deal with issues that arose linked to Ministers and TDs.
The Minister insisted however that his department was taking it “very seriously and I am committed to trying to get the heads of the Bill completed, bringing the heads of the Bill to Government and commencing the legislative process in relation to it”.
Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway-Walsh said the legislation should make it an offence for TDs and Senators to fail to disclose their interests. “Currently, members are merely required to correct the record, with no potential sanction for failing in their duties.”
They should also widen the definition of “registrable interest” to include liabilities above a certain threshold, one of the key recommendations of the Mahon tribunal, because of concerns about guaranteed loans that were not repaid.
Ms Conway-Walsh added that Sipo “needs true independence and the power to initiate its own investigations” without having to have a complaint referred to it before it can investigate.
The Minister assured her he planned to deal with both those matters. “I aim to deal with the issue of liabilities and how they are registered and I also aim to bring forward proposals regarding strengthening the powers of SIPO to allow it to initiate its own investigations.”
He aimed to bring proposals to Government soon “because I do appreciate the importance of this issue”.
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