With just one conviction for bribery in the past 16 years, new legislation on white-collar crime is long overdue, Fine Gael chief whip, Mr Charles Flanagan, has said.
The party is to publish an anti-corruption Bill that would make it an offence for officials in the public and private sectors to take backhanders.
Mr Flanagan, the author of the Bill, yesterday said radical reform was needed to restore confidence in the political system. The Bill, which he will introduce during private members' time in the Dail within weeks, also includes the statutory definition of a bribe.
On the second day of the Fine Gael meeting yesterday, the range of measures was discussed by the parliamentary party, as well as a revised code of conduct for Fine Gael election candidates and party finances.
Mr Flanagan said the Government had "promised much and delivered little" on dealing with white-collar crime.
The single conviction in the past 16 years - for passport offences - was a perfect example of why radical change was needed, he said.
"Clearly the law is not working. There is no statutory definition of what is a bribe." Mr Flanagan said the proposed legislation covered the procuring of secret commissions giving an explanation that would make it an offence if a person received a loan from a bank manager on the basis that they had to pay a backhander. "I'm not saying the practice is widespread, but this is an area there has not been a strong focus on." He said it also addressed the situation where officials in the public sector may be passing sensitive information for gain to the private sector - particularly financial information. Where corruption was involved, he said, it was important the burden of proof shifted to the defence.
"The onus would be on the person who would have received a sum of money in suspicious circumstances to prove his or her innocence." This would also refer to public representatives.
"What we are proposing is fairly comprehensive change in the law. 1916 was the last time that there was an anti-corruption Bill."
On the response by party members to the proposals, Mr Flanagan said: "It is a difficult area to address but they realise it is essential if the relationship between the public and public representatives is on the type of footing we think it should be."
He said Fine Gael would disclose party donations of more than £500 and produce an annual financial report which they would give to the Public Offices Commission detailing the income and expenditure of the party.
The revised code of conduct would contain a stipulation that all candidates would swear a statutory declaration that their tax affairs were in order once they had been chosen to stand. If a candidate made a false declaration, there would be penalties, including expulsion from the party.
Mr Flanagan said that asking candidates to prove their tax affairs were in order was a very difficult area in terms of a candidate producing a certificate by election day or the first sitting of the Dail.
"Going beyond the solemn statutory declaration may be difficult," he said.