{"id":1951,"date":"2022-11-10T17:11:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T17:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/fine-gael-inaction-means-sipo-is-more-lapdog-than-watchdog\/"},"modified":"2022-11-10T17:11:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T17:11:32","slug":"fine-gael-inaction-means-sipo-is-more-lapdog-than-watchdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/fine-gael-inaction-means-sipo-is-more-lapdog-than-watchdog\/","title":{"rendered":"Fine Gael Inaction Means SIPO Is More Lapdog Than Watchdog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>SIPO is currently more lapdog than watchdog<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The decision of the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) not to investigate the T\u00e1naiste\u2019s leaking of a draft contract to a friend in 2019 is further evidence that the watchdog needs more teeth, according to Social Democrats co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe T\u00e1naiste has maintained that he leaked the draft contract \u00a0in his capacity as Taoiseach \u2013 and SIPO has said it has no remit to inquire into the extent of the powers of the office of Taoiseach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is notable that this was not a unanimous view. Two of five SIPO commissioners were of the opinion they could investigate this matter while a sixth commissioner recused herself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis decision raises questions about SIPO\u2019s capacity to investigate complaints about the actions of Taoisigh \u2013 and suggests the office of Taoiseach protect its inhabitants from scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring leaders questions today, I asked the T\u00e1naiste if he was satisfied that SIPO is sufficiently empowered to investigate the decisions of Taoisigh when that is necessary. In response, the T\u00e1naiste initially dodged the question \u2013 ultimately saying SIPO should not investigate political decisions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, this was a response to a question that was not asked. Nobody has ever suggested the SIPO should investigate political decisions \u2013 but rather the ethical conduct of politicians while in office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is that Fine Gael has failed, for more than a decade, to strengthen our woefully inadequate ethics laws. This is despite repeated pleas from SIPO, in its annual report every year, for additional powers of investigation and enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe net result of this is that SIPO is currently more lapdog than watchdog. It will remain in this prostrate position unless the government provides it with the increased powers it needs to hold politicians to account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SIPO is currently more lapdog than watchdog The decision of the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) not to investigate the T\u00e1naiste\u2019s leaking of a draft contract to a friend in 2019 is further evidence that the watchdog needs more teeth, according to Social Democrats co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall. \u201cThe T\u00e1naiste has maintained that he leaked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7,264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-press-release","category-roisin-shortall"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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