Annual Report 2002

Conflict of Interest

Ultimately, the Ethics Acts are in place to contribute to the protection of the public interest. The public interest is not an easy concept to define. The extent to which the public interest must be assessed beyond national boundaries is increasing. This is because a decision in one jurisdiction can have an impact beyond that jurisdiction itself and can even extend to a global level. For instance, it is a matter of public interest that laws are enacted and implemented and that there is an infrastructure in place to collect taxes and to distribute those taxes in the form of, for example, health services and education. Equally, and this is the domain of the Ethics Acts, it is a matter of public interest that members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, including office holders, and public servants should not seek personal advantage from their public roles. The Ethics Acts provide the mechanism by which the persons concerned can demonstrate adherence to this principle by disclosing any interests which have the potential to cause a conflict. Equally, those interests which actually do cause a conflict of interests have to be resolved. In that regard, it is to be expected that any conflict of interest would be resolved in favour of the public interest.

The Ethics Acts, in describing circumstances which require a disclosure of interests, make reference to any interest which could materially influence the person in, or in relation to, the performance of the functions of office. An interest which could materially influence a person is also referred to as a conflict of interest, a set of circumstances where a person, for example, a public servant, has a private or personal interest which could influence, or be reasonably regarded as capable of influencing, that public servant in the performance of his or her official duties. In this connection, the Ethics Acts provide for both direct and indirect interests. In other words an interest may be direct, as in one's own, or it may be indirect, as in an interest of a relative or business associate. An interest could be financial or it could be any other benefit as defined by the 1995 Act, i.e.

"benefit" includes--
(a) a right, privilege, office or dignity and any forbearance to demand money or money's worth or a valuable thing,

(b) any aid, vote, consent or influence or pretended aid, vote, consent or influence,

(c) any promise or procurement of or agreement or endeavour to procure, or the holding out of any expectation of, any gift, loan, fee, reward or other thing aforesaid,

or other advantage and the avoidance of a loss, liability, penalty, forfeiture, punishment or other disadvantage;"

The conflict of interest arises when the performance of the official role is compromised to any extent, however minor, by the external consideration of a private interest, whether direct or indirect.

All of the persons covered by the Ethics Acts hold positions of trust in the public service, whether as ordinary members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, as office holders or as public servants. Holding a position of trust means that the public is entitled to expect objectivity and even-handedness in all matters. If not dealt with, a conflict of interest, or the appearance of such, is an obvious betrayal of public trust and is, therefore, a matter of legitimate concern to the public. It causes damage to the public service because it diminishes the trust people generally have in that service. The Ethics Acts provide a mechanism whereby potential conflicts of interest can be disclosed by means of an annual statement of interests while an actual conflict of interest can be dealt with by means of a statement of material interest. For public servants, this includes an obligation not to proceed with the function in which the material interest has arisen.

The Standards Commission can be contacted for advice regarding the application of the Ethics Acts in any particular circumstance, including where there is the possibility of a conflict of interest. As a general comment it would advise that great care should be taken in this area, that the widest possible perspective should be taken and that, where there is doubt, it is preferable to disclose an interest than not to disclose which, in the latter case, could give rise to a subsequent determination by the Standards Commission that an interest should have been disclosed.

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