The chairman of the Standards in Public Office Commission, Mr Justice Matthew P Smith, has said that it is not true that a majority of the commission's members believes existing ethics laws make it too difficult to secure convictions against errant office holders.
In a statement issued by the commission, responding to an article in The Irish Times last Thursday headed "Ethics body believes stricter laws required", the chairman went on to say that the commission has no plans to approach the Taoiseach following his criticism that it has failed to explain why it needs extra powers to launch ethics investigations.
The standards commission, the statement added, already has the power to launch an investigation in the absence of a complaint. The commission has suggested to the Minister for Finance that it be granted the power to appoint an inquiry officer in the absence of a complaint.
The statement also said it is not true that a significant number of the commission members now believe that politicians are increasingly bypassing election spending limits.
"The ethics legislation provides for complaints against office holders and members of the Dáil and Seanad Éireann. The standards commission does not consider that the right of the citizen to complain is restricted in any way."
The commission's response says that while the ethics legislation is complex, the commission does not consider that the current standards are not sufficiently strict, or clear enough, to make it possible to secure convictions, as stated in the article. "It has never concluded that this is the case. The legislation provides for a small number of offences - briefly these offences relate to the obstruction of the commission or of an inquiry officer; the destruction of documents; breach of the immunity afforded to complaints under legislation; disclosure of information contrary to the provision of the legislation and the giving of false evidence.
"There have been no convictions in relation to these offences and it has never been claimed that the offences are insufficiently clear to secure convictions," the statement from the commission added.