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Corruption: The View from the Oireachtas .

Corruption: The View from the Oireachtas. Presented by Gillian Smith. Research Question. To assess the effectiveness of the ethics legislation since its introduction in 1995.

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Corruption: The View from the Oireachtas .

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  1. Corruption: The View from the Oireachtas. Presented by Gillian Smith

  2. Research Question • To assess the effectiveness of the ethics legislation since its introduction in 1995. • To compare the attitudes of Oireachtas members to corrupt acts to those of Westminster MPs before and after the Nolan Reforms.

  3. Previous Studies • USA – Beard and Horn, Peters and Welsh • Canada – Atkinson and Mancuso • UK – Mancuso, Nolan • Australia – Rodney Smith

  4. The fifteen hypothetical scenarios presented to Oireachtas Members • Ticket: A TD is issued a first class airline ticket as part of a parliamentary delegation. She exchanges the ticket for an economy fare and pockets the difference. • Envelopes: A Senator brings pre-stamped Oireachtas envelopes to his Party’s County Councillors for them to use. • Retainer: A TD on retainer to a PR company representing the Construction Industry raises the abolition of stamp duty during Order of Business. • Contract: A Cabinet Minister uses his influence to obtain a large contract for a firm in his constituency. • Hospital: A TD uses his/her position to get a friend or relative moved up on a hospital waiting list. • Position: A Cabinet Minister promises an appointed position in exchange for campaign contributions to her Party. • License: A Cabinet Minister gives out State Broadcasting licences to individuals who donated large amounts to his Party prior to an election. • Secretary General: A Minister brings the Secretary General of his department to a Party meeting to inform the Minister’s Party Colleagues of an upcoming complex policy debate. • Parliamentary Secretary: A TD hires a family member as his/her Parliamentary Secretary. • Meeting: The head of a large Irish company goes to Leinster House to meet with the Minister for Finance to discuss the implications of upcoming tax legislation. • Paris: The head of a large Irish company flies the Minister for Finance to Paris to attend a rugby match. • Garda: A Garda receives fifty euro from the owner of a lorry to pass his logbook inspection • Pass: A TD requests and receives an Oireachtas pass for a lobbyist to act as a research assistant, although her services are being paid for by an outside source. • Committee: An All Party Committee on the disabled secures the services of a full time research assistant at the expense of the Irish Wheelchair Association • Wine: A TD accepts a case of wine from a constituent as a Christmas gift. Source: Smith, (2008)

  5. Scenario Responses and Statistics

  6. Overview of the results • Women more intolerant of corruption • Those serving longer than 10 years most intolerant, those serving between 5-10 years most tolerant of corruption – no ‘collegiate effect’. • Dáil members more intolerant than Senators.

  7. Examining the Results • Constituency service: Hospital, Contract, Envelopes. • Conflict of Interest: License, Pass, Ticket, Retainer, Paris, Parliamentary Secretary, Wine, Position.

  8. Bar graph showing responses to ‘Contract’ question Contract: A Cabinet Minister uses his influence to obtain a large contract for a firm in his constituency.

  9. Bar graph showing responses to ‘Hospital’ question Hospital: A TD uses his/her position to get a friend or relative moved up on a hospital waiting list.

  10. Bar graph showing response rate for ‘Position’ question Position: A Cabinet Minister promises an appointed position in exchange for campaign contributions to her Party.

  11. Bar graph showing responses to ‘Wine’ question Wine: A TD accepts a case of wine from a constituent as a Christmas gift.

  12. Service and Conflict scores for Mancuso, Allen and Smith studies Source: *Mancuso (1995); ** Allen (2006); Smith (2008).

  13. Ethical Locations of the Sample of Oireachtas Members

  14. Breakdown of respondents relative to mean scores Conflict Low Tolerance High Tolerance High Tolerance Service Low Tolerance Key: M indicates Mancuso’s (1995) data, A indicates Allen’s (2006) data and S indicates data from this study completed by Smith (2008).

  15. Breakdown of respondents relative to the Mancuso mean scores Conflict Low Tolerance High Tolerance High Tolerance Service Low Tolerance Key: M indicates Mancuso’s (1995) data, S indicates data from this study completed by Smith (2008).

  16. Explanations for differences • Political System -PR/STV - Coalition • Culture/Religion -Catholicism -Personalism

  17. Conclusion • Limited effect of legislation • Monitoring required • Importance of constituency service to voters - improving the responsiveness of the public service - increasing constituency size

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