Standards Commission Publishes Annual Report for 2024

29 July 2025 – Today the Standards in Public Office Commission published its annual report for 2024. The report provides a summary of the Commission’s activities during 2024 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 2024 report include:

• The Commission processed 127 complaints under the Ethics Acts and initiated three preliminary inquiries. In addition, four preliminary inquiries were carried forward from the previous year. A total of seven preliminary inquiries were ongoing at year end. The Commission initiated one investigation hearing in 2024, with two investigations ongoing at year’s end.

• The Commission was notified of 317 appointments to senior office by public bodies during 2024, up slightly from 313 in 2023. In addition, five Senators were elected/nominated to the 26th Seanad during 2024, while 174 TDs were elected to Dáil Éireann at the General Election on 29 November 2024.

• The Commission oversaw the Limerick Mayoral and European Parliament Elections in June, and the General Election to the 34th Dáil on 29 November. In advance of these elections, the Commission published guidelines for candidates, election agents, national agents of political parties, and other relevant persons to support compliance with electoral legislation.

• Numerous outreach activities were undertaken to raise awareness and improve understanding and compliance with the Acts.

To read the Commission’s annual report, visit the website Annual reports

For further information, please contact:

Press Officer

Standards in Public Office Commission

6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773 Phone: +353 (0) 1 639 5666

Email: info@sipo.ie

Website: www.sipo.ie/en/

Twitter: @SIPOCIreland

Background

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 2024 were:

• Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan, Chairperson;

• Seamus McCarthy, Comptroller and Auditor General;

• Ger Deering Ombudsman;

• Peter Finnegan, Clerk of Dáil Éireann;

• Martin Groves, Clerk of Seanad Éireann;

• Geraldine Feeney, former member of Seanad Éireann.

The Commission publishes two annual reports each year; one on its activities administering ethics, electoral and State financing legislation, and the other on its activities administering the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The separate annual report on the Regulation of Lobbying in 2024 was published on 30 June and may be viewed on www.lobbying.ie.