Standards in Public Life

There is a wide range of legislation in place to help the public be more confident in the way Ireland is governed. The following is a list of legislation and organisations which provides this assistance.

• conflicts of interest are currently regulated at national level by the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 (‘the Ethics Acts’)
• at local authority level by the Local Government Act 2001 (Part XV)
• Public Sector Standards Bill 2015

Money spent and donations received by public representatives (TDs and Senators) and political parties are controlled by the Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act 1999 and the Electoral Act 1997.

The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 established a web based registration system of lobbying activity which will tell us “Who is lobbying whom and about what?”

The Register provides the public with information on the identity of those who are communicating with Government and senior civil and public servants on public policy matters.

The Codes set out the standards of conduct and integrity for local authority employees and councillors. They set out the level of behaviour the public is entitled to expect from local authority employees and councillors and aims to keep public confidence in local government.

• Code of Conduct for Local Authority Employees
• Code of Conduct for Councillors

The Standards in Public Office Commission is an independent body established in December 2001 by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. It has six members and is chaired by a former Judge of the High Court. Its functions include:

• supervising the disclosure of interests of public representatives and their compliance with tax clearance requirements
• the disclosure of donations and election expenditure; the expenditure of state funding received by political parties
• the registration of lobbyists

Amendments were made in the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2005 to give additional powers to help the operation of the Criminal Assets Bureau in the fight against all forms of crime, including white collar crime and corruption.