A new code of conduct for office-holders imposes a series of requirements on Ministers and others to act ethically and in the public interest at all times.
The Government drew up the code after consultation with the Standards in Public Office Commission.
Such a code is required under the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.
The Government chief whip, Ms Mary Hanafin, who distributed the code yesterday, said it ensured "there are now guidelines as well as legislation to ensure we maintain the highest ethical standards".
The code sets out a number of requirements for the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers, Ministers of State and chairs of Oireachtas committees, which are additional to requirements already prescribed by law.
These include a requirement to give "accurate and truthful information to the Houses of the Oireachtas, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity".
Office-holders must use official facilities only for official purposes; they should not use them to give them advantage by raising their profile in the context of a general election and they should avoid any abuse of the privileges attached to office.
In relation to business interests, they must not "engage in any activities that could reasonably be regarded as interfering or being incompatible with the full and proper discharge by them of the duties of their office".
They should not hold paid company directorships or carry out professional practice.
Those taking up outside appointments on leaving office should "avoid any real or apparent conflict of interest with the office they formerly occupied".
They should act in a way which ensures it could not be reasonably concluded that "an unfair advantage would be conferred in a new appointment by virtue of, for example, access to official information the office- holder previously enjoyed".
Office-holders will now be bound to have regard to and be guided by the code.
The code will be admissible in any proceedings before a court, a tribunal, a committee on members' interests of either House or the standards commission.
Any citizen believing an office-holder to have breached this code of conduct can make a complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission.
The commission can make a finding that the code has been breached, but cannot impose any sanction. However, according to Ms Hanafin, who distributed the new code yesterday, it is open to the Oireachtas to impose sanctions on office-holders found to be in breach of the code if it considers this necessary. The code will apply from yesterday.
Codes of conduct for members of the Dáil and Seanad who are not office-holders have already been published by the standards commission.