Transparency group urges greater power for standards office

Reaction:The Irish branch of Transparency International (TI), the worldwide anti-corruption organisation, has urged additional power for the Standards in Public Office Commission and full disclosure of their financial accounts by political parties.

Welcoming the first Moriarty report on payments to politicians, TI said in a statement: "The tribunal has benefited the State by helping to expose and document wrongdoing which ultimately facilitated widespread tax evasion, the illegal sale of passports and theft of charitable and party political funds."

The tribunal had also helped the State recoup substantial sums in tax revenue, although further anti-corruption measures were needed.

In a series of recommendations, TI said the Government should: (i) grant the Standards in Public Office Commission the power to appoint an inquiries officer "in order to make initial and informal inquiries into apparent breaches of the Electoral and Ethics Acts by members of the Oireachtas"; (ii) allocate the necessary resources, training and staff to An Garda Síochána "to investigate and prepare evidence for prosecutions of bribery in Ireland and overseas"; and (iii) ratify the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

TI also called on political parties "to present their fully audited accounts to the Standards in Public Office Commission in a timely manner . . . and to publish those accounts in detail on their websites".