Open letter to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Justice and Equality:

No company alleged to have bribed foreign officials prosecuted

Any new version of the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement will repeat the failures of the current model unless the Government changes the funding and staffing arrangements too, a leading anti-corruption watchdog has warned.

Transparency International, the influential watchdog for public and corporate governance, has added fuel to the political row surrounding the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation by calling on the Government to scrap its current investigation, claiming the conflicts of interest are so glaring as to undermine Ireland’s reputation abroad.

Michael Lowry has defended passing a note to the Taoiseach Enda Kenny recommending his former adviser to a State Board. The note said the female advisor "wasn't bad looking".

Legislation aimed at protecting whistleblowers could prove to be a big challenge for employers, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Ireland’s image as being an honest country in which to do business has improved for the second year in a row, according to an index of corruption perceptions published by Transparency International.

Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe said he’s “glad” the justice minister has corrected the Dáil record on a claim that he failed to co-operate with an internal Garda inquiry into penalty point cancellations.

One of the whistleblowers from the Garda penalty points scandal has welcomed the apology from Justice Minister Alan Shatter this afternoon.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter is still refusing to apologise to garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe, amid calls that he correct the Dáil record over comments he made about him last October.

The amount of money lost through terminated penalty point notices over the last few years was enough to have fully kitted out an extra three hundred patrol cars for the force, the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee heard.

The Garda Ombudsman Commission has called for an overhaul of how it is allowed to operate as a wide-ranging probe into the penalty points controversy is promised.

Transparency International has written to the Garda Commissioner suggesting senior management in the force may be in breach of the law over how whistleblowers have been treated.

SMALL plates are fast becoming a real enduring trend in restaurants.

Government plans to regulate lobby groups have been criticised for not going far enough.

Three of the biggest political parties in the country - Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil - say they did not receive any donations in excess of €5,000 in the last year.

The Taoiseach’s decision to share a Wall Street platform with businessman Denis O’Brien has done Ireland’s reputation “no favours”, an anti-corruption campaign group has said.

The government is dragging its heels on reforms that will reduce corruption here according to a new report.

We, the undersigned, call on the Government to establish a constitutional convention that is capable of fulfilling the Programme for Government’s commitment to “a real shift in power from the State to the citizen”.

Ibec has criticised the Government for not carrying out a regulatory impact assessment on the proposed “whistleblower” legislation, ahead of the initial draft of laws being drawn up.

The Government yesterday published legislative plans aimed at protecting whistleblowers.

The Government was accused of hypocrisy in not supporting rules to have oil, gas and mining companies in Ireland and other EU countries report what money they pay to governments for mining concessions.

The Government has been accused of ignoring citizens and serving the interests of big business as it objects to EU rules forcing energy companies to be more transparent about their finances.

The vast majority of people living in Ireland (80%) believe that corruption is a major problem for the country; that it is part of Irish business culture and is widespread among politicians, according a new EU-wide survey.

Whistleblower Louise Bayliss has been reinstated in her job after her employer said “an error” had been made in letting two trainees go.

A NEW whistle-blowers hotline received complaints and allegations about the health service, solicitors and malpractice by employers in its first month.

THE country’s first whistleblowers’ ethics and anti-corruption helpline goes live today.

The country’s first whistleblowers’ ethics and anti-corruption helpline goes live tomorrow.

AN anti-corruption body has asked the Director of Corporate Enforcement as well as foreign authorities to follow up on the damning findings of the Moriarty Tribunal.

IRELAND is set to get its own Wikileaks-style website where people will be able to report issues of abuse and of public concern.

Political parties and Oireachtas members are still seen as being the worst affected by corruption, according to a new survey.

IRELAND has been placed 14th best on a list of 178 countries which have been ranked according to how corrupt they are perceived to be by business people.

Ireland comes 14th in the list of rankings published today by the corruption watchdog Transparency International in its annual corruption perceptions index.

POLITICAL decisions and policy in Ireland is believed to be heavily influenced by personal relationships, favours and donations, a damning corruption report has found.

IRELAND’S reputation for corruption in the public sector has not improved in the past year according to Transparency International.

COMPANIES doing business in the developing world spend nearly €800 billion a year bribing officials and politicians — 20 times more than the current spend on international aid.

IRELAND has tumbled from 11th to 19th in the latest world rankings of the least corrupt countries for business, a leading international anti-corruption group said yesterday.

Transparency International Ireland has launched the country’s first corruption news and analysis service.