Labour is to press for a detailed Dail debate on its proposal to ban corporate funding of politics, saying its Bill on such measures automatically passed its second stage yesterday.
The party's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the Bill had passed according to the terms of a Government amendment passed by the Dail when the Labour Party Bill was debated last May.
Mr Gilmore said: "When the Bill was debated in the Dail last May, the Government parties wanted to avoid the embarrassment of a direct vote against it and instead proposed that the second reading be deferred until December 1st." ail last May, according to Mr Gilmore, "the Government parties wanted to avoid the embarrassment of a direct vote against it and instead proposed that the Second Reading would be deferred until December 1st. That meant that the Bill was "effectively put into `cold storage' until today", he said."
He said the Government had vowed to bring forward reforms dealing with ethical issues such as funding of parties and measures to prevent corruption. "The package was to be produced to enable `all necessary legislative changes to be introduced and considered by the Houses of the Oireachtas not later than December 31st'."
However, the only element of this package that had been produced was a new Standards in Public Office Bill, he added. This Bill "has since been buried and has not yet even been taken at second stage". He said there was no chance of any other element of the package being considered by the Dail before December 31st, as promised.