SIPO concerned over loophole for new bodies including Irish Water
The public standards watchdog said it is worried about the number of public bodies it cannot control.
The Standards in Public Office Commission said staff at new bodies like Irish Water are not bound by the same ethics laws as their colleagues elsewhere.
That is because the Government is trying to overhaul the ethics system, and has not changed the existing rules to cover the new agencies that have been set up in the meantime.
The new training agency SOLAS (which replaced FÁS), and the new Education and Training Boards, are among the bodies who are not covered by the ethics rules.
"Due to work on the new Public Sector Standards Bill, no new regulations have been made," the watchdog wrote in its annual report.
"The Standards Commission notes with concern that a significant number of bodies remain outside the scope of the Ethics Acts."
SIPO's annual report can be read in full here.
