Attorney General

As Attorney General you must comply with the requirements of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 (the 1995 Act) and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 (the 2001 Act).

The following applies if you are not a member of Dáil Éireann or of Seanad Éireann. If you are a member of either House you should refer to the Office Holder page.

As Attorney General you are required each year, during any part of which you hold or held that office, to prepare and furnish to the Taoiseach, and to the Standards in Public Office Commission (the Standards Commission), in a form which is determined by the Minister for Finance, a statement in writing of your registrable interests.  Further information concerning disclosable interests under the Ethics Acts is contained in Part 7 of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.

If a function of the office of Attorney General falls to be performed and you have actual knowledge that you, or a connected person, have a material interest in a matter to which the function relates, you must, before or as soon as may be after such performance, furnish a statement in writing of those facts and of the nature of the interest to the Taoiseach and to the Standards Commission. This requirement applies whether or not an interest has been disclosed in an annual statement referred to above.  (A definition of what constitutes a "connected person" and a "material interest" is contained in Part 8 (Definitions) of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.)

You also have obligations in relation to tax clearance. These are outlined below and apply to a person who was appointed as Attorney General after 10 December 2001.

You must provide the following to the Standards Commission, not more than nine months after the date of appointment:

• a Tax Clearance Certificate (the Tax Clearance Certificate must have been issued by the Collector-General within a period of nine months before or after the date of appointment), or
• an Application Statement, which is issued by the Collector-General, following an application, and is to the effect that the person has applied for a Tax Clearance Certificate and that a decision on the application has not been made (an Application Statement that was issued to the person must have been made within a period of nine months before or after the date of appointment) and
• a Statutory Declaration, which is a declaration made by the appointee in accordance with the Statutory Declarations Act 1938, as amended, testifying that, at the time of its making, the appointee is, to the best of his or her knowledge or belief, in compliance with the obligations imposed on him or her by the Tax Acts and is not aware of any impediment to the issue of a Tax Clearance Certificate (the Statutory Declaration must have been made by the person within a period of one month before or after the date of appointment).

Further details in relation to tax clearance are available in Part 6 of the Standards Commission's guidelines for Public Servants.  You can also download the relevant Statutory Declaration forms from the Forms section of this website.

You may also wish to consult the following:

• Guidelines on Compliance with the Provisions of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 - Public Servants