Vol. 549 No. 2
123 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has assessed the recent report on the problem of corruption; his views on the findings; and the proposals he is preparing to deal with the issues raised in the report. [4089/02]
As indicated in response to Question No. 125 of 7 February 2002, the report referred to in the Deputy's question was published in December 2001, following an evaluation by a team from GRECO, which is a committee operating under the auspices of the Council of Europe with a particular focus on corruption. The evaluation report centred on the response of a number of Departments and agencies concerning the prevention and detection of corruption, including my own Department, the Departments of Finance and the Environment and Local Government, the Garda Síochána, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Officer of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners. As such, it is a wide-ranging report.
The report is generally favourable to Ireland. It concludes that "Ireland appears to belong to the group of those GRECO members that are least affected by corruption." GRECO also welcomed the proposals contained in the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2001 which updates the law on corruption and makes it more responsive to modern conditions. As already mentioned, the report covers the response of a number of Departments and agencies in detecting and preventing corruption and, therefore, the recommendations are not a matter for my Department alone. My Department and the other relevant Departments and agencies will examine the recommendations before deciding on the necessary action to be taken in response.
