Statement by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Government Buildings Dublin.
"In my statements last week, I outlined the circumstances in which I accepted loans from friends and a gift in Manchester.
I explained that I considered at the time that I was not in breach of any legal or ethical requirement, both then applying to Ministers or intended to apply through pending legislation.
This arose because of the context of the personal difficulties which I was experiencing;
because of the intent of friends to assist me in those personal circumstances out of long-established friendship and, at my insistence, on the basis of a loan and, in the case of Manchester, because I was there in a personal capacity, and because of the clear understanding that this created no obligation or expectation of influence. However I do believe that it was an error of judgement, notwithstanding that it did not breach those obligations.
It was open to a construction at variance with the facts.
It was capable of misinterpretation, as it has been misinterpreted ? albeit in some cases deliberately ? and it has undoubtedly created upset and confusion.
It was an error of judgement and I regret having accepted the money at the time, notwithstanding the points I have made about the circumstances.
That, and the distress caused to others, was the focus of my apology, which was, and is unqualified.
The apology covers the decisions I made 12/13 years ago and the recent consequences of those decisions. I have explained all of the circumstances arising.
I have made the relevant information available to the Tribunal and given it all of my financial records and I will continue to co-operate with it.
I have also briefed the Tánaiste. A very substantial body of legislation has been enacted to regulate ethical standards since the events of 1993 and 1994.
This includes the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001, as well as the Electoral Act 1997 and the Local Government Act, 2001 (in respect of the local government service).
A statutory Code of Conduct for Office Holders was drawn up by the Government and issued by the Standards in Public Office Commission, which has also published guidelines for office holders.
In the light of recent discussions, the Tánaiste and I have agreed that these provisions should be strengthened further. In particular, we believe that the obligation on public representatives to observe the highest standards of behaviour and to act in good faith needs to be supported by mechanisms to deal with the very human circumstances where financial support from friends is reasonable and creates no risk of conflict of interest or compromising the discharge of public office.
Accordingly, the Tánaiste and I have agreed that the Ethics legislation will be amended to require that any office holder, or member of the Dáil or Seanad, who proposes to accept a significant gift from a friend for personal purposes shall seek the confidential opinion of the Standards in Public Office Commission that acceptance of the loan or gift in the particular circumstances would not be likely to compromise the recipient in the discharge of his or her duties. Failure to seek or abide by the opinion of the Commission in these circumstances will constitute an offence.
I believe that these additions to an already extensive ethical code will give confidence to the public and provide assurance to public representatives about the reasonableness of the required and actual standard of behaviour of those in public life. The people of Ireland expect the Government to finish the job it began and to continue to implement our Programme for the rest of our term.
They know that there are important issues to be dealt with over coming months. I am confident that we can achieve significant benefits for the Irish people through the continuation of our work together in Government.
I enjoy a close and friendly relationship with the Tánaiste which was not diminished in any way in our positive discussions over recent days.
We received from our respective parliamentary party colleagues full support in addressing the issues which arose and their public statements through this difficult time, in the face of highly opportunistic and manifestly unfair comment, enabled us to deal with the issues sensibly and effectively. I believe that, with the legislative changes we have now agreed, the focus of political and public debate should return to the important issues facing the country and its people."