We will radically overhaul the way Irish politics and Government work. The failures of the
political system over the past decade were a key contributor to the financial crisis and the system
must now learn those lessons urgently.
Government is too centralised and unaccountable. We believe that there must also be a
real shift in power from the State to the citizen.
We will legislate on the issue of cabinet confidentiality.
We will legislate to restore the Freedom of Information Act to what it was before it was underined
by the outgoing Government, and we will extend its remit to other public bodies including the
administrative side of the Garda Síochána, subject to security exceptions.
We will extend Freedom of Information, and the Ombudsman Act, to ensure that all statutory
bodies, and all bodies significantly funded from the public purse, are covered.
We will introduce Whistleblowers legislation.
We will introduce spending limits for all elections, including Presidential elections and
constitutional referendums, including for a period in advance of scheduled Local, European,
General and Presidential Elections.
We will significantly reduce the limits on political donations to political parties and candidates to
��2,500 and ��1,000 respectively, and require disclosure of all aggregate sums above ��1,500 and
��600 respectively.
We will introduce the necessary legal and constitutional provisions to ban corporate donations to
political parties.
We will amend the Official Secrets Act, retaining a criminal sanction only for breaches which
involve a serious threat to the vital interests of the state.
We will introduce a statutory register of lobbyists, and rules concerning the practice of lobbying.
Our open government legislation will also establish an Electoral Commission to subsume the
functions of existing bodies and the Department of the Environment.
We will amend the rules to ensure that no senior public servant (including political appointees) or
Minister can work in the private sector in any area involving a potential conflict of interest with
their former area of public employment, until at least two years have elapsed after they have left
the public service.
Fine Gael Labour Coalition Programme for Government 2011-2016
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Originally Posted by C. Flower
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