Standards in Public Office Commission

Appendix 1 - Recommendations for change

In previous Annual Reports, the Standards Commission summarised its recommendations for changes to ethics and electoral legislation. The major proposals are summarised in this Appendix, along with updates on any progress which may have taken place in the meantime. Minor proposals, such as technical amendments, are referred to in previous annual reports.

Proposed procedural amendments to the Ethics Acts

• The Standards Commission should directly lay its annual report before each House of the Oireachtas rather than furnishing it to the Minister for Finance who then lays it;  (Introduction, Annual Report 2010)
• power to appoint an Inquiry Officer to conduct a preliminary inquiry into a matter in the absence of a complaint under the Ethics Acts (Chapter 1, ‘Own initiative inquiries’, Annual Report 2004);
• provision for a quorum of not less than three members (including in all cases, the Chairman) be provided for the hearing of an investigation under the Ethics Acts (Chapter 4, ‘Proposed amendments to the Ethics Acts’, Annual Report 2008).

Other proposed amendments to the Ethics Acts and related legislation

• a comprehensive act consolidating the Ethics Acts and all other legislation providing for disclosure of interests and related provisions for public officials (Chapter 2, ‘Overlapping Ethics Frameworks’ Annual Report 2009);
• amendment of the provisions for complaints about a ‘specified act’ to allow reference to a high level statement of the ethical principles to be followed by public servants and public representatives (Chapter 2, ‘High Level Statement of Ethical Principles’, Annual Report 2009);
• amendment of the definition of ‘connected person’ (see definition in Appendix 3) to provide that a person is a “connected person” to a company (see definition in Appendix 3) of which he or she is a director and that the other directors of that company are also “connected persons” to that person (Chapter 2, ‘Connected Persons’, Annual Report 2009);
  requirement that liabilities be disclosed as ‘registrable interests’ (Chapter 2, ‘Disclosure of Liabilities’, Annual Report 2009);
• proposal that motions be initiated in the Houses of the Oireachtas to designate the Chairpersons of Oireachtas Committees as office holders for the purposes of the Ethics Acts (Chapter 1, ‘Ethics Acts’ Annual Report 2005); the Minister for Finance decided not to move the resolutions (Chapter 4, ‘Proposed amendments to the Ethics Acts’, Annual Report 2008); 
• amendments to the time limits within which statutory declarations, tax clearance certificates and application statements are to be made or issued and furnished to the Standards Commission by elected members and by appointees to senior positions and directorships in the public service (Chapter 1, ‘Tax Clearance Provisions - observations to the Minister for Finance ‘ Annual Report 2003); 
• the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 amends the deadline for the making of a statutory declaration by a person recommended for appointment to judicial office from one month to three; a similar provision for elected members and senior public servants is required (Appendix 4, ‘Proposed amendments to the Ethics Acts and related legislation’, Annual Report 2009);
• adoption of a code of conduct for public servants and members of state boards in the wider public service (Chapter 1, ‘Codes of Conduct for Public Servants’, Annual Report 2003).

Proposed legislation regarding public interest disclosure

• a comprehensive public interest disclosure and whistleblower protection law (Chapter 2, ‘Whistleblowing’, Annual Report 2009).

Proposed procedural amendment to the Electoral Acts

• As the body with responsibility for supervising the Electoral Acts, the Standards Commission should have a statutory basis on which to review the legislation and report on its findings (Review of the Electoral Acts 2003).

Proposed amendment to the Electoral Acts relating to the election period

consideration should be given to imposing some accountability, in the context of the spending limits, in respect of a specified period prior to commencement of the legally defined election period (i.e., that the election period might be extended to include a period prior to the dissolution of the Dáil or moving of the writ at an election) (Review of the Electoral Acts 2003).

Proposed amendment to the Electoral Acts relating to Third parties

• the definition of what constitutes a “third party” should not be determined on the basis of whether an individual/group has received a donation but should focus on spending by individuals/groups and to regard them as third parties if they intend to incur expenditure over a certain threshold, say €5,000, in relation to a campaign which is for political purposes as defined in the legislation (Review of the Electoral Acts 2003; and 2009 Report on third parties at the Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon);
• the registration process for “third parties” and for “other persons” (who intend to incur election expenses) should be amalgamated. (There should be no need for an individual/group to register as a “third party” and to also register as an “other person”.) (Review of the Electoral Acts 2003);
• registration of third parties should be allowed for a particular campaign or on an on-going basis. (2009 Report on third parties at the Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon 2008).

Proposed amendment to the Electoral Acts relating to spending at referendums

• to provide for transparency in funding and expenditure on referendum campaigns, third parties and political parties should be required to disclose details of expenditure on referendum campaigns. Similarly, information should be made available on the sources of funding available to both third parties and political parties (2009 Report on third parties at the Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon 2008).

Other proposed amendments to the Electoral Acts

• sanctions for non-cooperation with the Standards Commission should be reviewed. In particular, failure to cooperate with enquiries made by the Standards Commission under section 4(4) of the Electoral Act should constitute an offence (2009 Report on third parties at the Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon 2008);
• to ensure a level playing field between candidates, and a degree of transparency, the use of public funds for electoral purposes should form part of the electoral code rather than other legislation which patently has quite a separate purpose. This would involve a consequential repeal of the provisions dealing with the provision of services and facilities following a dissolution of Dáil Éireann by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission [Section 4(4A) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 (as amended by Section 4(c) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Act 2009)] (Report on the Dáil general election of 2007).

Proposed amendment to the Party Leaders Allowance legislation relating to the giving of advice

Either the Standards Commission or the Minister for Finance should be able to publish guidelines or give advice on the appropriate use of the Party Leaders Allowance and for such guidelines and advice to be legally binding on the persons to whom they apply (Annual Report 2007).