In 1995 after a series of scandals and in an effort to restore integrity to government, an Ethics Commission led by Michael Nolan enumerated the “Seven Principles of Public Life” commonly known as the Nolan Principles, which are:
selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership.
In 2013 the Committee on Standards in Public Life stated “there is a great deal more to do before high ethical standards are fully internalised in the cultures of all our public institutions.” In 2021 the committee called for stronger rules, more independent regulation and a better system of compliance in central government, particularly greater independence in the regulation of the Ministerial Code. But here we are, nearly 25 years on from the scandals that prompted the Nolan Principles and nothing seems to have changed. Arguably it is worse.
BIG MONEY IN POLITICS
Public trust in politics is at an all time low. A new government could go some way towards restoring trust by levelling the playing field. The need to drive big money out of politics is invariably dismissed as naive however the public consistently supports the move. A blueprint for doing just this was drawn up in 2011 by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. It has sat on a shelf gathering dust.