Ethics in Public Office Act and behaviour of Mr. John O Donoghue, T.D

This letter was forwarded today to Minister John Gormley, leader of the Green Party and all the green party public representatives. It read as follows:

I am writing this as a member of the Green Party and former Green Party candidate in the local elections 2009. 

One of the reasons I accepted the honour to represent the party was my support for the moral and ethical position of the Green Party in demanding standards of integrity and conduct for political representatives for both the Houses of the Oireachtas and elected representatives of local Government.

As you know the media have reported for some weeks on the conduct and manner in which certain elected office holders carried out their duties both as Ministers in the previous Government but also as office holders in the current Government.

The nation stands dismayed, angry and disillusioned at the behaviour of office holders by members of the Oireachtas and the totally unacceptable use of public finances by certain public representatives in carrying out the functions of their office.

I refer in particular to Mr. John O Donoghue T.D. former Minister and current Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

Every day new evidence comes to light on the manner in which Mr. John O Donoghue T.D conducted his office and the privileges which he bestowed on  himself in undertaking his public duties both in the past and as the current Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

As coalition partners in the current government the Green Party have an obligation to ensure the highest level of ethical behavior of Cabinet members, members of Dail Eireann and in particular office holders such as the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

For this matter I wish to draw your attention to the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, as amended by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.

Section 10 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 provides for the introduction of Codes of Conduct which set out the standards of conduct and integrity expected to be observed by the persons to whom they relate in the performance of their official duties.

For your reference I include some of the principle points herein:

• In performing their official duties, Members must apply public resources prudently and only for the purposes for which they are intended

• “In accordance with the provisions of the Ethics Acts, office holders shall, in so far as it is relevant, have regard to and be guided by the Code in the performance of their functions and in relation to any other matters specified in the Code. This Code seeks to ensure that office holders must at all times observe, and be seen to observe, the highest standards of ethical behaviour in the carrying out of the functions of their office.

• Office holders should ensure that their use of officially provided facilities are designed to give the public value for money and to avoid any abuse of the privileges which, undoubtedly, are attached to office.

• Members must conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions and spirit of the Code of Conduct and ensure that their conduct does not bring the integrity of their office or the Dáil into serious disrepute.

• In performing their official duties, Members must apply public resources prudently and only for the purposes for which they are intended.

• Furthermore members of Dáil Éireann must recognise that it is in their individual and collective interest to foster and sustain public confidence and trust in their integrity as individuals and in Dáil Éireann as an institution.

The Principles of Ethical Conduct are defined within the Ethics Act and state

that :

• Holders of public office have a duty to keep faith with the public trust placed in them by the manner in which they carry out their official responsibilities.  This is a personal responsibility and requires them at all times to promote the common good, fairly and impartially, to conscientiously and prudently apply the resources of their office in furtherance of the public interest and to observe the highest ethical standards in the performance of their duties.

In addition to complying with those formal requirements, office holders should at all times:

• observe the highest standards of behaviour and act in good faith with transparency, fairness and impartiality to promote the common good in the performance of their official functions.

In respect of use of public resources the Act specifies that:

• Office holders are provided with facilities at public expense in order that public business may be conducted effectively. The use of these facilities should be in accordance with this principle. Holders of public office enjoy an enhanced public profile and should be mindful of the need to avoid use of resources in a way that could reasonably be construed as an inappropriate.., and

• Office holders should ensure that their use of officially provided facilities are designed to give the public value for money and to avoid any abuse of the privileges which, undoubtedly, are attached to office.

 I believe that the Nation is united in the belief that Mr. John O Donoghue T.D. and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann has shown through his actions that he has clearly breeched the standards of conduct and integrity as required by Oireachtas members in the Ethics in Public Office Act as outlined herein.

This is a moral and ethical issue of enormous significance for the Green Party; if as leader of the Green Party you do not act and insist on his resignation from office, I believe that the Government cannot survive and the relevance and integrity of the Green Party will be damaged irreparably.

Every day that you do not act you as leader of the Green Party, the party itself and Dáil Éireann as an institution continues to lose credibility.

To restore public confidence there is no option for the Green Party and Dáil Éireann but to demand the resignation of the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

 Declan Waugh