Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2026
35. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on reform of the ethics in public office legislation, given that the review of the statutory framework was completed in December 2022; the reason for the delay in publishing the heads of Bill; if he expects this Bill to be introduced this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51491/26]
View answerI am happy to update the Deputy on the progress that my Department has made in keeping the current statutory framework up to date and in preparing for the more substantive reform of the legislation that we have committed to in our Programme for Government.
At the end of 2025, I signed two statutory instruments updating the lists of directorships and positions in public bodies that are designated for the purposes of the Ethics Acts. This ensures that the Ethics in Public Office regime is operating effectively while my Department prepares its proposals for broader legislative reform. The result is that over 650 public bodies and over 2,500 roles or classes of role are now covered.
In respect to the wider legislative reform agenda and our Programme for Government commitment, this also remains a priority.
My Department has already prepared a comprehensive review of the legislative framework for ethics. A variety of significant operational and policy considerations flow from this review and its recommendations, and I am determined to address carefully the outstanding issues. To this end, my officials are to undertake some further consultation with certain key end-users of the system and I recently contacted the Chairpersons of the Committees on Members’ Interests of both the Dáil and the Seanad to request their input. The purpose of this engagement is to gain insight into the practicalities of the processes and procedures for making ethics returns, with a view to ensuring that a reformed regime is efficient, user-friendly and future-proofed. Informed by the results of this exercise, I will engage further with my officials in order to deliver on our Programme for Government commitment as soon as practicable.
