Labour TD Arthur Spring failed to provide a tax clearance certificate to the State’s ethics watchdog for over a year after being elected in a move which was “intentional” and a serious matter, an investigation has found.

A Dublin City councillor has been found to have breached ethics guidelines following an investigation into his behaviour by the Standards Commission.

HERE’S a question: how could the main political parties spend millions on the February general election and yet not declare a single political donation in the year leading up to it?

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.

A Seanad investigation into Ivor Callely's mobile phone expenses has been discontinued because he's no longer a Senator.

THE Greens used a prop at a press conference yesterday to imply Sinn Féin’s election funding was coming from the Northern Bank raid.

POLITICIANS and public servants who owe substantial sums to banks should have to declare such liabilities in the public interest, the state’s ethics watchdog has said.

THE state’s ethics watchdog has sharply criticised the Government for failing to introduce legal rules to govern the conduct of employees of state agencies.

FINE GAEL made a complaint to SIPO in 2008 about former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was trying to fend off the Mahon Tribunal probe into his financial dealings at the time.

Ireland's political parties disclosed total donations worth less than €100,000 for 2008, according to figures published today by the Standards in Public Office Commission.

TDS and senators declared a total of €163,394 in donations last year, new figures from the State’s ethics watchdog have revealed.

TDs, Senators and MEPs received more than €160,000 in declared donations last year, according to figures published today by the Standards Commission.

THE vast majority of public servants are not bound by any code of conduct — seven years after legislation was passed on the issue, the state’s ethics watchdog has warned.

Most public servants are not bound by any code of conduct – seven years after legislation was enacted on the issue, the State’s ethics watchdog warned today.

MORE than €700,000 in political donations was accepted by TDs last year, it was revealed yesterday.

HE MAY have weathered opposition questioning in the Dáil well but the grilling is far from over for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who still faces probes in three other forums when he leaves office on May 6.

THE Government will resist moves to give the State’s ethics watchdog the power to appoint inquiry officers to carry out preliminary investigations.

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.

A DÁIL committee has written to TDs warning them of their tax compliance requirements.

THE public does not know how parties and politicians fund their general election campaigns because of the lack of transparency surrounding donations, a State watchdog has said.

FIANNA Fáil spent a staggering €3.65 million, or €4.25 on each and every one of the 858,600 votes it got, in general election 2007, a report from the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) shows.

Ireland's political parties and candidates spent more than €11m on their campaigns in the three-and-a-half weeks before this year's General Election.

INDEPENDENT TDs received almost €1.4 million of taxpayers’ money on top of their salaries over the past three years and did not have to explain how they spent it.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but there is a saying that taxes and death are two certainties in life.

KERRY County Council has confirmed it is now complying with a key recommendation by the Standards in Public Office Commission, following a recent investigation by the Commission into two Killarney councillors.

The state’s standards watchdog today rapped Minister for Enterprise Micheal Martin on the knuckles for ordering a civil servant to attend a Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting.

THE Standards in Public Office Commission has confirmed it received two complaints about Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s acceptance of money from businessmen, but decided not to launch a formal investigation.

The Standards Commission is to investigate alleged breaches of the Ethics Act by Councillors Patrick O'Donoghue and Sheila Casey of Killarney Town Council.

ANTI-CORRUPTION measures must be further improved to enhance people’s confidence in the Government, Dáil and other public bodies, the State’s ethics watchdog has said.

JUNIOR Minister Tom Parlon has received a rap on the knuckles from the State body which monitors the conduct of public office holders.

THERE is a whiff of the Ciarán Cuffe affair about the controversy bubbling around two junior ministers, Tim O’Malley of the PDs and Fianna Fáil TD Sean Power.

Jim Morahan

CAMPAIGN groups and charities who protest against Government policies have accused the State of intimidation after they were told they would have to reveal details of donations they receive.

The Green Party is to table Dáil proposals today calling for reform of the Standards in Public Office Commission.

MARTIN CULLEN was in the clear last night as the State ethics watchdog decided against initiating a full inquiry into the appointment of his political associate Monica Leech as a PR consultant.

MARTIN CULLEN will have to sweat it out for another week before learning if a fresh investigation is to be launched into the awarding of lucrative PR contracts to his political associate Monica Leech.

The Standards in Public Office Commission is due to decide today whether to investigate the awarding of lucrative Government contracts to a close friend of Transport Minister Martin Cullen.

The fate of Transport Minister Martin Cullen should be known on Friday evening after the Standards in Public Office Commission meets to study how he awarded PR contracts in two Government departments.

The Standards in Public Office Commission is referring the tax clearance certificate it received from Fianna Fáil TD Michael Collins to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Standards in Public Office Commission has considered the implications for spending limits for TDs, in relation to the recent Supreme Court judgment in the case of Desmond Kelly.