Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2004
105 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Finance if he has concluded his consideration of correspondence received from the Standards in Public Office Commission drawing his attention to limitations in the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, arising from consideration of a case (details supplied); if he has now decided on the steps to be taken to address the issues raised by the commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4770/04]
View answerI have not concluded my consideration of this matter. As I informed the House previously, I received correspondence from the Standards in Public Office Commission in December about certain provisions of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. That correspondence concerned section 21 of the Standards in Public Office Act, which provides for evidence of tax compliance on the part of ordinary Members of the Houses to be furnished to the standards commission. Specifically, a tax clearance certificate, which would have issued to the person not more than nine months before and not more than nine months after the election date, and a statutory declaration, which was made by the person not more than one month before and not more than one month after the election date, must be furnished to the commission.
Section 21(4) provides for investigation by the Standards in Public Office Commission where a person contravenes subsection (1). In a letter to me of 2 December 2003 the Standards in Public Office Commission suggested that consideration be given to amending subsection (4) to provide that the commission may, where appropriate, investigate whether evidence of tax compliance provided to it by Members of the Oireachtas under subsection (1) was "false or misleading". It was necessary to consult internally within my Department on the suggestion made by the Standards in Public Office Commission and, following that consultation, to seek the advice of the Attorney General on certain issues. I will give further consideration to this matter when the advice of the Attorney General has been received.
