Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
26. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for 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 a Bill; if he expects this Bill to be introduced this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27622/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to assure the Deputy that reform of the statutory framework for ethics in public life continues to be a priority for this Government, and we have committed in our Programme for Government to do so. Nevertheless, as the House will appreciate, this policy area is a complex one, and careful consideration is required before I will be in a position to bring forward detailed proposals for legislative reform.
As the Deputy notes in his question, my Department has already prepared the ground through a comprehensive review of the ethics legislative framework. A variety of operational and policy considerations flow from this review in the context of the broad reform agenda. I am conscious that this represents an opportunity to make real and meaningful, long-term change to our current regime and I wish to ensure that this happens in a way that is both coherent from a policy perspective and user-friendly from an operational perspective.
In this respect, deputies may recall this House’s drawn-out examination of the ultimately unsuccessful Public Sector Standards Bill, which was introduced ten years ago. Given this context, I must examine the outstanding policy issues with great care and engage with my officials to determine the most appropriate way to deliver our Programme for Government commitment.
