Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 February 2013
247. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the safeguards that exist to prevent staff in his Department involved in the sale of Irish Life, moving to work for the new buyer of Irish Life. [5294/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn accordance with the Ethics Acts (i.e. Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, Standards in Public Office Act 2001), any civil servant intending to be engaged in or connected with (i) any outside business with which he or she had official dealings or (ii) any outside business that might gain an unfair advantage over its competitors by employing him or her, must inform the appropriate authority of such an intention (the appropriate authority for civil servants in my Department below Assistant Secretary level is the Secretary General, and those above Assistant Secretary level must apply to the Outside Appointments Board). Further details may be found at http://sipo.gov.ie/en/CodesofConduct/ Additionally, civil servants who hold positions which are designated positions for the purposes of the Ethics Acts shall not, within twelve months of resigning or retiring from the civil service accept an offer of appointment from an employer outside the civil service or accept an engagement in a particular consultancy project where the nature and terms of such appointment or engagement could lead to a conflict of interest, without first obtaining approval from the appropriate authority as outlined above. Even where the twelve months moratorium has elapsed, or where for other reasons approval is not required before taking up outside employment, former civil servants must continue to observe the restrictions imposed by the Official Secrets Act 1963, as amended by the Freedom of Information Acts.
With regard to staff seconded from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) to work in the Department’s Shareholder Management Unit on the sale of Irish Life, I am informed by the NTMA that its employees have notice periods of one or three months (and 6 months in the case of the Chief Executive). All NTMA employees are subject to section 14 of the National Treasury Management Agency Act, 1990 which prohibits an employee from disclosing any information obtained while carrying out their duties as employees of the NTMA. NTMA employees are also subject to the Official Secrets Act. Contravention of the NTMA Act and the Official Secrets Act is a criminal offence and the prohibition on disclosing confidential information applies indefinitely and extends to former employees.
