Former Fianna Fáil senator John Hanafin and a handful of Independent TDs have held talks about setting up a new political party before the next general election.

Former Fianna Fáil senator John Hanafin and a handful of Independent TDs have held talks about setting up a new political party before the next general election.

As the dust settles on Wednesday’s Public Accounts Committee hearing into Templemore College, what are the issues facing Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan when she appears before it again on June 14?

The financial crisis at the Garda College has deepened after serious concerns emerged over the tax compliance of its accounts and fears over hundreds of cheques given to gardaí for unvouched expenses.

Reform Alliance’s Lucinda Creighton has backed calls from the political standards watchdog requesting Envisronment Minister Phil Hogan to publish the legal advice he has received about his standoff with the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).

Stricter controls planned for the €41,000 allowance paid to independent TDs are not “cumbersome” or “onerous”, according to Brendan Howlin, the public expenditure and reform minister.

The pro-life group Youth Defence has contacted gardaí after its website became the target of hackers who claimed the charity is effectively a US-funded group focused on preventing abortion in Ireland.

Mick Wallace has said he hopes the Standards in Public Office Commission will get to the bottom of the penalty points debacle.

The Independent TD Mick Wallace will make a complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission over the Justice Minister.

The Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), the current ethics watchdog, has no teeth, so it is not able to bite.

A Dáil ethics watchdog probe into a Sinn Féin TD’s practice of donating much of her salary to party activities will be concluded next month.

James Reilly’s business and property interests are extensive.

A number of politicians may be forced to pay back expenses they claimed for campaigning outside of their constituencies, after the Oireachtas said allowances for such work were never envisaged under the rules.

In the run up to the fiscal treaty referendum I received a leaflet from Fine Gael urging a yes vote.

A Fine Gael senator is facing separate Seanad and party investigations after failing to provide a tax clearance certificate to the State’s ethics watchdog.

It is an absolute certainty that if a Mahon Tribunal-like report were published in any self-respecting, functional democracy there would have been immediate arrests and police investigations.

The Mahon tribunal has made a number of recommendations around standards and ethics, in its final report published today.

Gay Mitchell, widely regarded as the biggest loser of the presidential election battle has now been revealed as its biggest spender.

Former Fianna Fáil Minister of State Ivor Callely has been arrested by gardaí in Dublin today.

PUBLIC Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin says he will bring proposals to Cabinet in the coming months to amend the Party Leader’s Allowance system.

A POLITICAL ethics watchdog has sent a file on Ivor Callely to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after investigations into irregular mobile phone claims.

IN response to Eamon O Cuiv’s proposal to make social welfare recipients work for their entitlement, I’ve been unemployed for two years and I’ve written to him volunteering to work in the Standards in Public Office Commission.

IVOR CALLELY was embroiled in fresh controversy last night as ethics watchdogs launched a probe centred on his property empire.

THE Green Party will push Fianna Fáil to clean up the political donations system after the Irish Examiner revealed controversial donations to Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s party.

PROPERTY companies were the standout donors to political parties ahead of their last election campaign, a probe of accounts can reveal.

THE Government pulled the plug on the e51 million e-voting fiasco yesterday but Environment Minister John Gormley stopped short of apologising for the waste of taxpayers’ money.

THE state’s ethics watchdog, in its annual report yesterday, reminded us that political parties spent millions on last year’s election but did not say where most of the money came from.

IN Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, the Emperor of Japan managed to produce the most streamlined government in the world.

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley wants to widen the powers of the state’s ethics watchdog to stamp out bad practice by local councillors.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern changed his story about his personal finances once more yesterday, admitting the Revenue Commissioners could issue a decision on his tax status at any time.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has rejected criticism from the Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin over the party's stance on the Taoiseach's dealings with the Mahon Tribunal.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has hit back at the Minister for Enterprise Micheal Martin in a developing war of words regarding the Oppositionparty's Standards in Public Office Commission complaint against the Taoiseach.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is likely to be facing a third separate investigation into his personal finances within 24 hours of arriving home from Africa today.

Fine Gael tonight called on the Greens and Progressive Democrats to back its Dáil motion supporting the work of the Mahon Tribunal.

THE Taoiseach yesterday rounded on the Mahon Tribunal and defended at length his tax dealings, but was forced to admit the Revenue Commissioners are still examining his affairs.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was urged by opposition parties to “come clean” last night on whether he has given standards watchdogs proof of his tax status.

IN a landmark prosecution under new ethics legislation, a former Fianna Fáil TD yesterday denied misleading Revenue to obtain a certificate to satisfy the Standards in Public Office Commission that he was tax compliant.

Political parties should publish annual corporate-style accounts to show how much they receive in private donations, the state’s standards watchdog said today.

FIANNA FÁIL has said it does not regard the annual Cáirde Fáil dinner hosted by the Taoiseach as a fundraiser for the party.

The Cabinet has agreed to tighten up ethics legislation governing payments to politicians in the wake of the controversy that almost led to the collapse of the Government last week.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is under growing pressure to reveal details of the payments he received from wealthy businessmen when he was Minister for Finance in 1993.

IT IS utterly absurd. Having spent just 95 days in their place of employment since last September — about the equivalent of another man’s overtime — our TDs are reaching for the Factor 10.

The Taoiseach must sack Minister of State Frank Fahey over allegations of dodging tax, it was claimed tonight.