The European Commission's 2026 Rule of Law Report, published earlier this month, has recommended that Ireland ‘continue efforts to strengthen the existing ethics framework, including the monitoring and enforcement capacity of the Standards in Public Office Commission [SIPO], and to strengthen and digitalise the asset declarations system’.
It is the fifth consecutive year the Commission has made this recommendation to Ireland.
TI Ireland's submission to the 2026 Rule of Law Cycle set out just how long reform has been outstanding. Overhaul of Ireland's public ethics legislation was recommended by the Mahon Tribunal in 2012, has been echoed repeatedly by the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body GRECO, and was recommended again by the Government’s own review of the ethics framework in 2023.
A comprehensive Public Sector Standards Bill, introduced by then Minister Brendan Howlin in 2015, was allowed to expire with the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil in January 2020, never having progressed beyond second stage. Ethics reform was promised in both the previous and current Programmes for Government. Yet a Bill has still not been published, with successive Ministers indicating that publication is imminent but without ever giving a firm timeline.
The Commission's report also flagged concerns about anti-corruption enforcement. They note that the resourcing of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), including its Anti-Bribery and Corruption Unit (ABCU), remains ‘insufficient’, with the ABCU also struggling to retain staff and to analyse large, complex digital datasets.
In addition to TI Ireland having repeatedly raised these concerns over a number of years, the UN has recommended ‘adequate resourcing and staffing’ of the ABCU, and the Government-commissioned Hamilton Review recommended a ‘substantial and sustained increase in resources’ for the GNECB.
Launching the 2026 Rule of Law report, Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said the rule of law ‘keeps power in check, protects fundamental rights, and gives citizens and businesses the certainty they need to thrive’. TI Ireland agrees.
However, these safeguards cannot be realised without a robust, up-to-date ethics framework, properly resourced enforcement bodies and – most importantly – a genuine commitment to higher ethical standards in public office. The Government must now match its rhetoric with the legislation, resources and tools required to meet those standards.