Annual Report 2006

Complaints against local authority members

The Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service

Part 15 of the Local Government Act 2001 sets out the Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service, including provisions for disclosure of interests by and codes of conduct for local authority members, employees and other relevant persons. Part 15 provides for the appointment of an ethics registrar in each local authority for a period of two years to perform certain functions in relation to the implementation of the legislation. Section 174(7) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that where the ethics registrar (or the manager where a matter relates to the ethics registrar) becomes aware of a possible contravention of Part 15, it is his or her duty to bring it to the attention of the manager and/or the Cathaoirleach of the local authority, depending on who has allegedly contravened the legislation. The manager and/or the Cathaoirleach shall consider what action should be taken, which may include an investigation or the taking of disciplinary procedures, referral of the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions or any other course of action considered appropriate in the circumstances. Section 180 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that the Ethics Acts apply to a local authority. Accordingly, it is open to the manager and/or the Cathaoirleach as appropriate to make a complaint to the Standards Commission in relation to an alleged contravention of the ethical framework.  It should also be noted that local authority members and employees are 'specified persons' for the purposes of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 and that any person may make a complaint to the Standards Commission about an alleged 'specified act' by a local authority member or employee under section 4 of that Act.

The Local Government Act 2001 does not provide a formal complaints procedure in relation to contraventions of its provisions by local authority members or employees. The Standards Commission advises that where a member of the public wishes to complain about a failure by a councillor or a local authority employee to observe a provision of Part 15 of the Local Government Act 2001, he or she should raise the matter with the Council's ethics registrar. The Standards Commission also considers that where matters relating to alleged contraventions by a member or employee of a local authority are raised, these should be dealt with by the local authority itself, insofar as is possible.

Under the Local Government Act 2001, the ethics registrar is obliged to compile a public register of the interests of members, employees and other relevant persons. Section 172 of that Act provides that the register is kept at the offices of the local authority concerned and is available for public inspection during normal office hours. Any person may apply for a copy of the register or any entry in the register, on payment of a fee set by the local authority to cover the reasonable cost of making the copy. The Standards Commission considers that it is in the public interest that where a statutory register of interests is provided for as a public document, that document should be published on the internet, as is the case for the registers of interests for members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. This would ensure the widespread availability of what is public information and would promote public awareness of the ethical framework for the local government service.

Complaint against two Killarney Town Councillors

The Standards Commission received a complaint from the Town Manager of Killarney Town Council, concerning alleged contraventions of Part 15 of the Local Government Act 2001 by Councillor Patrick O'Donoghue and Councillor Sheila Casey. In order to assist it with its consideration of whether an investigation under the Ethics Acts was warranted, the Standards Commission appointed an Inquiry Officer under section 6 of the 2001 Act. The Inquiry Officer conducted a preliminary inquiry of the complaint by obtaining statements from relevant witnesses, by presenting these statements to the two councillors against whom the complaint had been made and by obtaining statements from the two councillors concerned. The Inquiry Officer presented a report of his inquiry to the Standards Commission, which decided that an investigation was warranted. An investigation hearing was held and the Standards Commission published a separate report dealing with the complaint in 2007.

National Roads Authority

During 2006, the Standards Commission considered issues which had been raised in the national media relating to a possible contravention of the Ethics Acts by a director of the National Roads Authority (NRA). In order to decide whether to commence an investigation on its own initiative under the Ethics Acts into whether the director concerned had failed to comply with an obligation to make a statement of a material interest in a function to be performed, the Standards Commission made informal enquiries on the matter to the NRA. Having considered the NRA's reply, the Standards Commission was satisfied that no contravention of the Ethics Acts had occurred and therefore no investigation was warranted.

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