Press release
Standards Commission publishes Annual Report for 2021
From Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO)
Published on
Last updated on
From Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO)
Published on
Last updated on
2 August 2022: Today the Standards in Public Office Commission published its annual report for 2021. The report provides a summary of the Commission’s activities during 2021 under legislation relating to ethics in public office, electoral financing, and State funding. It includes information regarding operations and compliance with the ethics legislation, complaints and investigations, political donations, state financing of political parties and the registration of third parties and corporate donors.
Highlights of the 2021 report include:
The Commission processed 127 complaints under the Ethics Acts, initiated 4 preliminary inquiries. There were 7 preliminary inquiries carried forward from 2020 completed in 2021. Of these, two were closed and five proceeded to investigations. The Commission held two investigation hearings in November of 2021, the subsequent report of which were published in January of 2022.
There were seven ongoing investigations in relation to “senior office” appointees for non-compliance with tax clearance provisions at the start of 2021. A further three investigations under these provisions were approved during 2021. Eight individuals came into compliance during the year and two remain outstanding. Two investigation reports were issued in relation to “senior office” appointees who subsequently complied with their tax clearance obligations.
Three reports on annual disclosures of donations to political parties, the expenditure of Exchequer funding, and statements of political parties’ accounts were published over the course of the year.
The Commission also had oversight of campaign finance for the Dáil general election in 2020 and published its report in 2021. The Commission also received statutory declarations and donations statements under the Electoral Act 1997 in relation to the Seanad Election 2020 and published its report on this in 2021.
Two Seanad bye-elections and a Dáil Éireann Dublin Bay South bye-election took place in 2021. The Commission subsequently published its reports on expenditure at those elections.
It undertook numerous outreach activities to raise awareness and improve understanding and compliance with the Acts.
As in previous years, the Standards Commission has included in its annual report a number of recommendations for legislative change to the Electoral Act 1997 (as amended) and to the Ethics in Public Office Acts, that remain outstanding at the time of publication.
In November of 2021, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, launched the public consultation for the review of ethics legislation which took into account the work of the Standards Commission, The Hamilton Report published in 2020, and the GRECO (Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption) fifth round evaluation of Ireland’s ethics and anti-corruption framework which took place in Dublin between 25-28 October 2021.
The public consultation is currently under review by the department with a view to bring forward proposals for legislative reform in 2022.
For more information, and to read the Commission’s annual report, visit the website.
The Standards Commission was created in 2001, and is the independent body charged with oversight of the Ethics in Public Office Acts (1995 and 2001), the Electoral Act 1997 (as amended), the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014, and the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015.
The members of the Standards Commission in 2021 were: