Key legislation covering standards in public office will be published today by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
The Bill provides for the establishment of a new standards in public office commission to investigate complaints about officeholders, members of the Oireachtas and various public servants.
It would also create tax clearance requirements for politicians, senior public servants and judges. As a result, each member of the Dail and Seanad would have to make a statutory declaration stating their tax affairs were in order and produce a tax clearance certificate.
The commission will be headed by a judge or a former judge of the High Court or Supreme Court with powers similar to that of a tribunal. Mr McCreevy said in a recent debate in the Dail that the Government had seen "how effective these powers can be in getting to the truth of important issues of public confidence in politics".
The commission would not be confined to investigating breaches of the Ethics Act but would have a wider power to consider significant allegations of financial irregularities. "Clearly, the investigative powers of the commission will be a substantial and credible deterrent to potential wrong doers".