The State is not doing enough to combat corruption, according to a progress report issued by Transparency International (TI) today.
According to the report on the implementation of the OECD anti-bribery convention, since Irish law on foreign bribery came into effect in 2001, no investigations or prosecutions have taken place, and little has been done to inform the public that the bribery of a foreign public official is a crime.
The report also criticised the fact that the gardaí and DPP will only bring a prosecution against an individual or company if part of the crime was committed in Ireland.
Of the nine categories examining Ireland's success at implementing and enforcing the convention, four were found to be "unsatisfactory", and four were "unclear", with only one was deemed "satisfactory".
"The law on foreign bribery in Ireland sends out the message that it is wrong to bribe here but ok to bribe elsewhere. This amounts to gross hypocrisy and a moral and legal double standard', said John Devitt, acting chief executive of TI Ireland.
"The law must be changed as a matter of urgency," he added.
According to the report, whistleblower legislation should be introduced to safeguard those who report corruption. It also called for a
public information campaign, as well as a list of foreign bribery offences to be included in annual Garda figures.
The Irish section of the TI progress report was completed by Diarmuid Griffin, a law lecturer at the National University of Galway. This year is Ireland's debut in the report.
