The Public Offices Commission has sought some specific changes in the current ethics legislation but believes the present regime will make a substantial difference to the conduct of public life.
The commission's annual report, published yesterday, warns against allowing "the backlash against those in public service" to result in an excessively technical code of conduct. The current regime was comprehensive, according to the report, and the priority now was for "political leaders and senior public servants to demonstrate their commitment to honest governance and to deal severely with those who impugn the system".
Pointing to a number of shortcomings in the law, however, the report says the case in which the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had holidays in a villa owned by businessman Mr Ulick McEvaddy showed up one difficulty.
While the report makes clear that no breach of the Ethics Act was involved, it says the case highlights the fact that a relative or friend can make gifts to an office-holder without being obliged to disclose this.
The difficulty in defining a friend complicated the commission's task in deciding on a complaint in relation to the holidays taken by Ms Harney and Mr McCreevy, the report says. It suggests the parameters of what constitutes a friendship may have to be defined in legislation.
Both Ms Harney and Mr McCreevy had told the commission of their intention to disclose the gift of the holiday accommodation, according to the report, although they did not necessarily believe they were obliged to do so.
However, the commission says they were indeed obliged to do so, as the gift "might reasonably be seen to have been capable of influencing the person in the performance of his or her functions as an office-holder".
The commission also calls for an extension of the definition of a "connected person" in the legislation. The term is used to deal with situations where an officeholder could cause a specific benefit to accrue to a person with whom he or she is connected.
The current definition of a connected person, which includes relatives and business associates, should be extended to include any person who has given a gift to the relevant office-holder, according to the report.
A Government spokesman said last night it would be giving detailed consideration to the commission's suggestions before producing a number of amendments to the recently published Ethics in Public Office Bill.
The chairman of the commission, Mr Kevin Murphy, told a press conference yesterday the level of change in the regulation of politics had not yet been appreciated. Recently revealed scandals were connected by a lack of transparency, resistance to openness and failures in accountability, he said, factors which had been changed significantly by recent legislation.
"I was surprised at the extent of some of the things that have surfaced in recent years," said Mr Murphy.
But while the tribunals were producing revelations that were a cause for concern, they were from a different era. "The cumulative effect of the legislation will be quite significant, and the commission feels it hasn't been appreciated enough that the scene has changed."