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ethics
Ethics responsibility restored to Paschal Donohoe after Sipo closes donation complaint
Sipo had looked into a complaint over Donohoe’s failure to to declare a donation of services during the 2016 election campaign.
2.13pm, 4 Jul 2023
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CABINET HAS RESTORED responsibility for ethics legislation and public office standards to Minister Paschal Donohoe after it was removed from his remit earlier this year over a complaint concerning undeclared donations.
A complaint had been submitted to the Standards in Public Office (Sipo) Commission regarding Donohoe’s failure to declare a donation of services he received during the 2016 election campaign from businessman Michael Stone to the value of around €1,057.
Responsibility for ethics legislation and standards in public office, which usually resides with the Minister for Public Expenditure, were transferred to Minister for Finance Michael McGrath while Sipo looked into the complaint.
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In May, Sipo notified Minister Donohoe that the complaint made against him was closed and no further action would be taken.
Sipo said that an amendment Donohoe made to his election returns in January was “consistent with the Commission’s approach to compliance” and the matter was “not of sufficient gravity” to merit an investigation.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar instructed in June that, given the conclusion of the Sipo process, he believed there was no further need for Donohoe to be recused from the relevant responsibilities and that they should revert to him.
The government has now approved orders to give effect to the transfer of responsibility for functions relating to ethics legislation and Sipo back to Minister Donohoe.
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Great to see this article,very timely as what has happened in Iran over the last forty years is just starting in Afghanistan. Convert or die is basically what is happening .The separation of church and state is so important.
From reading this article
I cant help but see the UN is in terrible need of reform
It’s toothless organisation not fit for purpose
Every aggressor from Russia,Saudi Arabia, Iran Israel and the USA just ignore it and its resolutions
Time to disband the UN and start again
@John Mcmahon: The UN is certainly toothless and we do need more powerful (and democratically accountable) global governance. However the UN does do a lot of good. There are a number of countries that are unresponsive to the UN, another set that are responsive only within fixed areas, but most countries actually interact with the UN. For those countries the UN’s human rights bodies are invaluable. Some of the UN agencies like the UNHCR and the World Food Programme have undoubtedly saved millions of lives.
Somewhat ironic I think. I believe The Baha’í Faith originated in Iran, tho’ I may be wrong. I’ve found the Bahai’s that I’ve known to be quite good people.
@Colm Mcmahon: it’s a little bit of truth, thay lots of people don’t wnat to know about. Hamas are brutal against their own people if they happen to be different to what hamas accept as “right”.
I despise what Israel does in Palestine but the other option isn’t great for freedom either.
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