MINISTER FOR Justice Alan Shatter said it was important to fix the damage which corruption had caused to the Sate’s international reputation.
Mr Shatter was speaking to a Dáil committee on justice yesterday about the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which has not yet been ratified by the State. He said that more than 150 states were party to the convention and it was a “matter of some regret” that only eight years after signing the convention was the State “in a position to ratify it”.
Ratification was necessary to show “our commitment to tackle corruption and clean up public life in this country”, he said. Most of the provisions reflect “existing Irish anti-corruption legislation and practice for many years”, he said. The convention would allow Ireland to “demonstrate that our anti-corruption laws and systems meet international standards”.
